Currently, the Greater Tzaneen Municipality (GTM) council consists of 52 ANC, 8 EFF, 7 DA, 1 Cope and 1 APC councillor. According to the IEC’s candidate list, eighteen parties are contesting the election in the GTM. Thirteen independent candidates will also try and get a seat at the table. Some of the smaller parties are Abantu Batho Congress with one candidate trying to get elected in either wards 17, 29 and 32. Able Leadership will contest 16 wards and the Africa Restoration Alliance has seven candidates that have registered to stand in all 35 wards.

The ACDP has five candidates and is contesting all the wards while the African Freedom Party with its 33 candidates is also listed in all the wards. The ANC has a list of 72 candidates of which the current mayor, Maripe Mangena, appears second on the order list. It is not known if he will be re-elected as mayor. First on the order list is Gerson Molapisane. Other smaller parties are the African People’s Convention who currently holds one seat in the council, Azanian People’s Organisation, Civic Warriors and Congress of the People.

For the Democratic Alliance (DA) which holds seven seats, the battle lies in wards 14 and 15 which have been traditional DA wards for the last 20 years. Ward 15 covers the CBD and most of the neighbourhoods in town while Ward 14 is a vast area that borders Tzaneen’s north-eastern neighourhoods and stretches as far as Politsi and Magoebaskloof with a demographic compounded of agricultural landowners and farmworkers. If projections of political commentators are correct, a national trend of a move of voters from the DA to the Freedom Front Plus (FF), may give the DA stiff opposition in these two wards.

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Cope and the EFF (36 candidates in all of the wards) are the last of the bigger parties who are currently represented in council who will appear on the ballot paper. Forum 4 Service Delivery, Kingdom Covenant Democratic Party, the PAC, the Patriotic Alliance, UDM and the Ximoko Party are the last of the parties who are hoping to draw enough votes to secure a proportional seat. The great number of independent candidates must also be factored into account. These candidates are known to voters to address issues specific to an area and they may very well take seats away from the bigger parties who are struggling with reputational issues such as constant allegations of corruption.

Service delivery, especially electricity and water supply, remains the major issue for voters according to comments from residents on the Herald’s Facebook page. While many villagers have no running water in their homes, the constant power outages and the implication it has for local businesses and the agricultural sector are the main concerns. Potholes and the maintenance of roads and the aging water- works and infrastructure are some of the issues that may also sway voters.