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Jacob Pilane of the ANC is the new mayor of Thabazimbi Local Municipality.
THE ANC in Limpopo reclaims the Thabazimbi Local Municipality after eight years.
Jacob Pilane has been elected mayor, Joshua Sebata is the new speaker, and Mapula Ndiweni is the chief whip of the council.
All three ANC members were elected uncontested at the municipality’s inaugural council meeting on Thursday, 12 December.
This change follows the by-elections on Wednesday, 4 December, where no political party achieved an outright victory, resulting in a hung council. The municipality had been dissolved in August due to prolonged instability.
The council comprises 24 seats, divided equally between ward seats and Proportional Representative (PR) seats.
During the meeting, it was announced that an uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party councillor had resigned on Wednesday, 11 December, creating the need for another by-election.
The ANC lost the municipality after the 2016 local government elections and was unable to regain control in 2021, remaining in the opposition within the council chamber.
Previously, the municipality ran through a coalition led by the Democratic Alliance (DA) before the dissolution of the council.
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Pastor Pule Lesetjane emphasised the need for divine wisdom to address the municipality’s governance and service delivery challenges.
“As residents of Thabazimbi, we’ve been badly affected by the municipal council. We pray that the new council will serve the people of Thabazimbi because we’ve been through as a result of this municipality,” said the pastor.
Some residents expressed doubt, citing councillors’ lateness at the inaugural meeting as a concern for future service delivery inefficiencies.
“If they arrive late on their first council meeting, how are they going to provide service delivery on time?” said a resident.
ANC Limpopo spokesman Jimmy Machaka expressed satisfaction with the meeting’s outcomes, saying they aligned with the aspirations of the Thabazimbi community.
“We congratulate the elected mayor, speaker and chief whip and hope that they live up to the expectation of the people of Thabazimbi in accordance with the ANC’s commitment to deliver services to people. The council came into effect when the municipality was under serious challenges. Therefore, service delivery should be the order of the day,” he said.
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