Lesedi Municipality (; ; ) 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 is a Sesotho word meaning "light". The name was decided upon because the municipality represents the light of the area. South African Languages - Place names
Politics
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. The Democratic Alliance opposed the proposal and challenged it. 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.
The following table shows the results of the 2021 election. Lesedi local election, 1 November 2021 Party Votes Seats Ward List Total % Ward List Total 12,140 12,175 24,315 50.4% 10 3 13 4,893 4,905 9,798 20.3% 3 2 5 3,258 3,266 6,524 13.5% 0 4 4 2,227 2,129 4,356 9.0% 0 3 3 580 504 1,084 2.2% 0 1 1 18 – 18 0.0% 0 – 0 8 other parties 971 1,145 2,116 4.4% 0 0 0 Total 24,087 24,124 48,211 13 13 26 Valid votes 24,087 24,124 48,211 98.6% Spoilt votes 346 360 706 1.4% Total votes cast 24,433 24,484 48,917 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:Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa Place Code Area (km2) Population Most spoken language Devon 706011.72704Afrikaans Heidelberg 7060230.1611,614Afrikaans Impumelelo 706031.446,226Zulu Ratanda 706064.1535,145Zulu Remainder of the municipality 706041,378.9016,350Zulu
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.
References
External links Lesedi Local Municipality