Lesedi Local Municipality

Lesedi Municipality (Zulu: UMasipala wase Lesedi; Sotho: Masepala wa Lesedi; Afrikaans: Lesedi Munisipaliteit) is a local municipality within the Sedibeng District Municipality, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Heidelberg is the seat of the municipality. During the first war of independence, Heidelberg served as capital of the South African Republic, from 1880 to 1883.

Lesedi
Local municipality
Official seal of Lesedi
Seal
Location in Gauteng
Location in Gauteng
Coordinates: 26°30′S 28°30′E
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceGauteng
DistrictSedibeng
SeatHeidelberg
Wards13
Government
[1]
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorLerato Maloka
Area
 • Total1,484 km2 (573 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total99,520
 • Density67/km2 (170/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[2]
 • Black African77.3%
 • Coloured1.2%
 • Indian/Asian1.3%
 • White19.7%
First languages (2011)
[3]
 • Zulu40.8%
 • Sotho21.9%
 • Afrikaans19.5%
 • English5.0%
 • Other12.8%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeGT423

Lesedi is a Sesotho word meaning "light". The name was decided upon because the municipality represents the light of the area.[4]

Politics
Main article: Lesedi Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of twenty-six members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirteen wards, while the remaining thirteen are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 1 November 2021 the African National Congress (ANC) won a plurality of seats on the council.

In 2013, a proposal was made for the Lesedi Local Municipality to cease being a local municipality under the Sedibeng District Municipality and to be merged into the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality after the 2016 municipal elections.[5][6][7] The Democratic Alliance opposed the proposal and challenged it.[5] As a result, the planned absorption of the Lesedi municipality into Ekurhuleni after the 2016 municipal elections was blocked by the High Court of South Africa in 2015.[8]

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.[9]

Lesedi local election, 1 November 2021
PartyVotesSeats
WardListTotal %WardListTotal
African National Congress 12,14012,17524,31550.4%10313
Democratic Alliance 4,8934,9059,79820.3%325
Economic Freedom Fighters 3,2583,2666,52413.5%044
Freedom Front Plus 2,2272,1294,3569.0%033
Socialist Economic Freedom Movement 5805041,0842.2%011
Independent candidates 18–180.0%0–0
8 other parties 9711,1452,1164.4%000
Total 24,08724,12448,211131326
Valid votes 24,08724,12448,21198.6%
Spoilt votes 3463607061.4%
Total votes cast 24,43324,48448,917
Voter turnout 24,576
Registered voters 47,853
Turnout percentage 51.4%

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[10]

PlaceCodeArea (km2)PopulationMost spoken language
Devon706011.72704Afrikaans
Heidelberg7060230.1611,614Afrikaans
Impumelelo706031.446,226Zulu
Ratanda706064.1535,145Zulu
Remainder of the municipality706041,378.9016,350Zulu

Management

In 2021 The Hawks arrested Mr Tshepo Malekana, development and planning manager at the municipality, for allegedly defrauding the municipality by selling vacant municipal land unlawfully and illegally between 2017 and 2019. He allegedly received cash payments totaling R100 million.[11][12]

References
  1. "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  4. South African Languages - Place names
  5. "DA to fight new borders". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  6. Import, Pongrass (2013-09-03). "Bigger metro is on the cards". Kempton Express. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  7. Import, Pongrass (2014-04-28). "Ekurhuleni and Lesedi metros merger goes ahead". Benoni City Times. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  8. "DA wins court case". 22 September 2015.
  9. "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Lesedi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
  10. Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
  11. Mokhoali, Veronica (2 April 2021). "Lesidi Municipality employee hands himself over to the cop in R100 mn fraud case". ewn.co.za. Eyewitness News. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  12. "Munisipale bestuurder vas oor bedrog van R100 miljoen". SA-Nuus. maroelamedia.co.za. Maroela Media. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
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