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Some political parties in the hung Thabazimbi municipality in Limpopo say persistent political infighting continues to paralyse the council.

The municipality has been under a hung council since the 2021 local government elections.

The council is composed of the ANC, DA, EFF, Labour Party, Thabazimbi Residents Association and the MKP. The DA and EFF say the ongoing battles are stalling service delivery.

DA councillor Estie Fourie and EFF councillor Sello Mohutsiwa say political divisions have once again resulted in parallel structures within the council.

“We are still a hung council as you know.  So, currently we have two mayors, we have a speaker, our previous speaker was suspended by his own party, the Labor Party in those June, July councils they have elected a new mayor, a new speaker.

“Two Mayors, two speakers, sothere was a lot of chaos. That’s why it was under Section 3(9), subsection 1(c) and we went to by-elections. We came back as the EFF, and our municipality cannot be dissolved twice.”

However, Thabazimbi mayoral spokesperson Joshua Motsomane says the municipality is performing well despite the political stalemate.

Motsomane says, “Administratively we don’t have issues, since I have said we have got the municipal manager, we have got the management team, but, you know, politically we are going for election. You might find that other councillors are no more wanting to come back, or they are no more coming back from their political parties. There are a little bit of challenges when it comes to that. Currently, we have got only one mayor that was sworn in as the mayor, or inaugurated as the mayor.”

Municipal By-Elections | Hung council remains in Thabazimbi

Reporting by: Nsuku Shiluvana