Phidiwe Maseko of the Lejweleputswa district municipality also faces the possibility of having her ANC membership terminated. She allegedly refused to implement an instruction regarding the composition of her mayoral committee. 

Maseko was elected in mid-May during a special council meeting in Welkom, replacing Veronica Ntakumbana as part of the ANC’s broader intervention to stabilise struggling municipalities across the province.

At the time of her appointment, ANC MP Dikeledi Lereko welcomed the leadership changes, saying the district municipality had long been beset by governance challenges and controversy. She argued the party’s intervention was necessary to improve leadership in municipalities across the Free State and also supported leadership changes in other local authorities.

However, in a letter dated 2 July, ANC provincial secretary Polediso Motsoeneng informed Maseko she had been placed on temporary suspension after failing to comply with a party instruction.

Motsoeneng says Maseko had been given a clear directive through the ANC’s cadre deployment processes on the composition of her mayoral committee. Instead of implementing the instruction, she retained an existing member, prompting disciplinary action.

Motsoeneng said her actions contravened rules of the ANC Constitution pertaining to breaching the membership oath as well as failing, refusing or neglecting to execute or comply with any ANC policy, standing order, rule, regulation or resolution adopted or made in terms of the constitution or breaching the provisions thereof.

He also reminded Maseko she may not exercise any of her rights in terms of the Constitution, save for attending the disciplinary proceedings and enforcing her right of appeal and/or review while on temporary suspension.

Motsoeneng further indicated that, as an ANC deployee, Maseko’s participation in municipal council activities during her suspension would be regulated by the party’s chief whip. Because the ANC holds the majority of seats in the Lejweleputswa district council, the suspension has significant implications for Maseko’s continued tenure as mayor.

Cadre deployment remains one of the ANC’s central mechanisms for appointing party members to strategic positions in government and municipalities. Deployed public representatives are expected to implement decisions taken by higher party structures, and failure to do so is regarded as a serious breach of party discipline.

Maseko's appointment formed part of a broader restructuring of municipal leadership undertaken by the ANC in the Free State earlier this year. The provincial leadership removed or redeployed several mayors in municipalities including Mafube, Moqhaka, Letsemeng, Nketoana, Masilonyana, Nala and Lejweleputswa, citing persistent governance failures, weak leadership and poor audit outcomes.

The Lejweleputswa district municipality, which includes Welkom and surrounding areas, has for years battled service delivery challenges, financial management problems and recurring political instability.

OFM News/Kekeletso Mosebetsi sm

• Have a news tip to share? Phone or whatsapp the OFM News Hotline on 066 487 1427.