Govan Mbeki Local Municipality


Govan Mbeki Municipality, formerly the Highveld East Local Municipality, is a local municipality within the Gert Sibande District Municipality, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Secunda is the seat of the municipality. It was named after Govan Mbeki, ANC activist.

Main places

The South African [National Census of 2001|2001 census] divided the municipality into the following main places:
PlaceCodeArea PopulationMost spoken language
Bethal101.508,512Afrikaans
Brendan Village0.66277Afrikaans
Charl Cilliers1.58210Zulu
Eendrag1.85293Afrikaans
Embalenhle13.6391,751Zulu
eMzinoni5.1931,012Zulu
Evander40.158,212Afrikaans
Highveld Ridge Mines71.84325Zulu
Kinross3.994,906English
Leandra1.599Zulu
Lebogang3.8819,396Zulu
Leslie2.08761Afrikaans
Leslie Gold Mines0.190-
Mandela Section0.231,083Xhosa
Milan Park1.744,760Zulu
Secunda150.7126,125Afrikaans
Sorento Park0.9512Afrikaans/Zulu
Trichardt1.531,973Afrikaans
Remainder of the municipality2,555.6822,132Zulu

Politics

The municipal council consists of sixty-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirty-two councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirty-two wards, while the remaining thirty-one are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the 2021 [South African municipal elections|election of 1 November 2021] the African National Congress lost its majority, but remained the largest party, winning twenty-six seats.
The following table shows the results of the election.

Corruption

After allegations of endemic corruption a forensic investigation was launched by the Department of Cooperative Governance. The Section 106 forensic investigation report released in 2020 revealed extensive political interference in its administration. The report revealed non-implementation of council resolutions, abuse of municipal property and assets, advertisement of tenders without following legislation and awarding of bursaries without following procedures. Senior positions were occupied by politically affiliated persons who lacked the minimum required qualifications or even a matric certificate. In addition several companies that got preferential treatment had senior politicians on their payroll. The senior politician and executive mayor, Ms Thandi Ngxonono, was implicated in the report and took special leave.
In September 2024 the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, said that his office would investigate funds that went missing in 2017 that had been meant to renovate a theatre in Secunda.