Cape Town - The ANC has been elbowed out of Maluti-a-Phufong after a group of its former councillors struck a deal with other parties to form a coalition in the municipality.
This after the ANC failed to garner an outright victory in the council.
Former ANC councillors had formed the MAP16 civic movement, with the intention of unseating the ruling party
MAP16’s leader Gilbert Mokotso will now head the municipality as mayor while his colleague Paratlane Motloung will serve as speaker. Dikwanketla Party of South Africa’s Moeketsi Lebesa will be the council’s chief whip.
The other parties to the coalition include the EFF, the African Independent Congress (AIC) and some smaller parties.
The DA was not part of the deal to form the coalition.
MAP16 was formed by former ANC councillors who were expelled by the ruling party in 2018 after they exposed corruption.
The 16 councillors went on to establish their own civic movement and contested the polls.
After the ANC failed to reach the required majority, MAP16 courted the EFF, AIC, Dikwanketla Party and other parties.
This will be the first time that the troubled Free State municipality will not be governed by the ANC in many years.
Maluti-a-Phufong which includes the town of Harrismith has been beset by problems with Eskom at some point going to court against the municipality.
A few months ago residents blocked the nearby N3 highway, that connects Johannesburg and Durban, protesting against lack of service delivery.
This is one of the hung municipalities where the ANC has been pushed out of power by failing to get a majority in the local government polls.
The other municipalities where the ANC dominated in the past but failed to get an outright majority are in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
Political Bureau