‘I want to be with the people’: Limpopo mayor resigns

Former Greater Tzaneen local municipality mayor Maripe Mangena has resigned.

Mangena, who was a PR councillor representing the municipality at the Mopani District Municipality in Limpopo, tendered his resignation this week.

The resignation letter was noted by the ANC-led council during a council sitting at the municipal chamber on Thursday.

The current Mopani District Municipality mayor, Pule Shayi, snubbed him during the appointment of councillors three and a half years ago.

Shayi won the Norman Mashabane ANC regional elective conference two weeks ago. Mangena did not endorse him, instead backing a rival slate that opposed Shayi’s bid for a third term.

Tension

Some within the ANC reportedly suspected that Mangena may have grown frustrated with the factional politics and slate battles within the party.

“We are not all President Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa forgave former Limpopo premier Stan Mathabatha for betraying him at the 55th ANC national elective conference on 19 December 2022.

“When many called for Mathabatha’s axing, the president did not act. Instead, he continued to give him [Mathabatha] a second chance to finish his term.

“Matamela [Cyril] went on to appoint Mathabatha as deputy minister for Land Reform and Rural Development under his Cabinet in 2024. It must be a lesson to every politician in South Africa that no leader wants to hunt with another man’s dogs.

“For sure, Mangena felt he could not continue working with a man he differed with politically for the next three years. The same goes for Shayi, he may not have been comfortable working with a man who continued showing him the middle finger,” said a municipal employee at the Mopani District Municipality, who asked to speak on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak with the media on the matter.

Shayi was unavailable for comment, reportedly because he was in a meeting.

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‘I want to be with the people’

While Mangena told The Citizen that his resignation had not yet been processed, municipal spokesperson Neville Ndlala said the resignation was noted and accepted by the council on Thursday.

ANC regional spokesperson, Peter Ngobeni, quoted Mangena as saying: “I want to be with the people in their daily struggles and to freely be part of their efforts for the improvement of their lives”

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