Thabazimbi District Court to rule on whether the ANC can occupy Mayor and Speaker seats

The Thabazimbi District Court in Limpopo is on Tuesday expected to rule on whether or not an African National Council (ANC) councillor should replace the local municipality’s Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor.

The ANC is challenging the interdict by the DA and the Thabazimbi Forum for Service Delivery (TFSD) to stop the swearing-in of ANC councillors as Mayor and Speaker respectively.

The municipality is governed by a coalition of the DA, Freedom Front Plus, the Economic Freedom Fighters, the TFSD and the Thabazimbi Residents Association.

The legal battle over the mayor’s position at the Thabazimbi municipality between the ANC and the DA started last month when ANC councillors tabled a motion to remove the DA’s mayor and the speaker.

The inauguration of ANC councillors, Judy Mohapi and Tshego Ramoabi, was stopped after the council’s speaker obtained an interdict.

The two were set to replace the DA’s Tokkie Swanepoel as Mayor and Ben Tlhabadira of the TFSD as Speaker.