{"id":815868,"date":"2025-03-10T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=815868"},"modified":"2025-03-10T10:53:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T08:53:33","slug":"the-south-african-town-with-two-mayors-and-violent-clashes-between-factions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/815868\/the-south-african-town-with-two-mayors-and-violent-clashes-between-factions\/","title":{"rendered":"The South African town with two mayors and violent clashes between factions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the old adage goes, “When it rains, it pours.” This is precisely the case for residents and businesses of the embattled Ditsobotla Local Municipality in the North West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Violent clashes have deepened the existing governance crisis in the already troubled municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ditsobotla, which includes Lichtenburg and Coligny, is once again facing severe turmoil. Ongoing factional disputes escalated this week, with two councilors claiming that they hold the mayorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Municipal Manager Olaotse Bojosinyane was dismissed on January 30, 2025. On February 14, 2025, he successfully challenged his dismissal in the Labour Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 28, 2025, a judgment ordered his reinstatement after ruling that his immediate termination was unlawful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ditsobotla Speaker Nico Modisakeng called a council meeting in Lichtenburg to discuss the appeal of the Labour Court judgement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the municipality appealed this ruling on Monday, March 3, 2025, which, according to the municipality, suspended the operation of the reinstatement order as per the Superior Court Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation turned violent this week when Bojosinyane, accompanied by his allies, private security guards, and supporters, forcibly attempted to reoccupy his office at the municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When denied access to the municipal building by security, tensions boiled, and Bojosinyane\u2019s private security allegedly fired shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This resulted in two municipal employees being injured by live ammunition. One sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and is in critical condition in the hospital, while the other was shot in the lower leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The municipality issued an official statement condemning these acts of violence, telling the public and stakeholders not to interact with Bojosinyane in any official capacity related to the Ditsobotla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this was ongoing, the council meeting taking place inside passed a motion to remove recently elected AMC mayor Mazwi Moruri and Modisakeng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequenly, some ANC, EFF, and other smaller party councilors from Ditsobotla met in Mafikeng. ANC councilor Molefe Morutse was purportedly “elected” as the new mayor during this meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moururi denied its legitimacy, stating that those attempting to undermine the political office-bearers unlawfully convened this council meeting outside the jurisdiction of Ditsobotla municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, they dismissed viral letters of resignation purportedly written by Moruri and Modisakeng as “fake and fraudulent”, and cases have been registered with the SAPS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting Municipal Manager Rasupang Mooketsi condemned these actions as “nothing but desperate attempts to create parallel structures of governance”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Morutse told Newzroom Afrika that the meeting which “elected” him was held in Mahikeng due to the violent events in the municipality the previous day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morutse referred to the incumbent mayor, Moruri, and the speaker as “two criminals” inside the municipality who were preventing him, “as an ANC intervention”, from “cleaning up the mess.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He claimed that these two individuals were not adhering to the ANC’s mandate that he should become the mayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morutse mentioned that a coalition had been formed between the EFF, ANC, and other smaller parties, which was why he was present and reporting for duty as the new mayor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the legitimacy of the council sitting in Mahikeng, Morutse asserted that those claiming it was illegitimate would naturally do so because they knew they were no longer in their positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morutse said he would lead the municipality, including the individuals he called criminals, whether they liked it or not, as he was their provincial leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also mentioned that he had spoken to those who had been fighting at the municipality and secured a “ceasefire.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, North West ANC Secretary Louis Diremelo said that the party “is disappointed” with Moruri, when he questioned the authenticity of letters purporting to be his resignation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the party, along with the EFF, resolved a while ago to elect Morutse as a mayor “to stabilise the municipality.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) North West leader, Michal Groenewald, said that the ongoing factionalism threatens to plunge the towns “into utter chaos.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This blatant lawlessness has been plaguing Ditsobotla communities for decades and taints all government spheres in South Africa,” said Groenewald.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DA North West MPL CJ Steyl has doubled down on the party’s call for placing it under Section 139(7) national government administration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“While the politicised municipal workers fight it out on the streets, residents do not have water or electricity,” said Steyl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Left – Mazwi Moruri. Right – Molefe Morutse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Residents take a back seat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Ditsobotla Local Municipality continues to grapple with severe political instability, significantly crippling essential service delivery in Lichtenburg and Coligny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This political turmoil has had a direct and detrimental impact on providing basic services. In 2021, Clover closed its major cheese factory in Ditsobotla, explicitly citing “ongoing poor service delivery”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents have endured prolonged water, electricity, sanitation, and road maintenance failures, leading to regular protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesses, represented by Sakeliga, the Ditsobotla Services Association (DSA) and the DA have called for national government intervention due to the ineffectiveness of provincial efforts to restore order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BusinessTech recently visited Ditsobotla<\/strong><\/a> to witness the situation firsthand by speaking with residents and stakeholders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents and businesses said the situation had deteriorated over the past 15 years, with the last five being particularly unbearable due to serious service develity failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the political turmoil unfolds, residents continue to bear the brunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several weeks ago, the district municipality cut off electricity to LaFarge Village and Lichtenburg Vakansie Oord, despite paying their fees to the local municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the focus on political instability, nothing has progressed. The municipality has acknowledged service disruptions caused by the recent public disorder, but it remains unstable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alleged creation of a parallel mayoral structure and the circulation of fraudulent resignation letters underscore the extent of the governance crisis, diverting attention and resources from critical service delivery needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The focus on political infighting is preventing the municipality from effectively addressing the basic needs of its residents and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this comes amid the ANC in the North West mulling merging Ditsobotla with those surrounding it after the 2026 local government elections if the provincial government\u2019s interventions continue to fail to address the challenges in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the current challenges, officials have said that Ditsobotla “is committed” to providing basic services within its financial limitations and confronting the daunting challenges it faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the recent surge in violence, political instability and factionalism that continue to plague Ditsobotla threaten to further disrupt governance and service delivery in the already embattled region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Lichtenburg library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ditsobotla’s political infighting has escalated into violent clashes and now “two mayors” claiming office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":808414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[21562,21591,21023],"class_list":["post-815868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-ditsobotla","tag-ditsobotla-local-municipality","tag-lichtenburg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815868"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":815967,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815868\/revisions\/815967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}