A skirmish in a small political party broke out in Lephalale Local Municipality five years before eventually ending up in court.
A bitter leadership battle within a little-known political party in the Limpopo town of Lephalale went before the court mid-year, five years after the underlying dispute first arose, as campaigning for the Local Government Elections gathered momentum.
The legal petition resulted in an Electoral Court ruling reinforcing that political parties must follow their own constitutions before the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) will recognise changes in leadership.
The dispute centred on the Lephalale Residents Party, a community-based political party represented on the Lephalale Local Municipality council. The municipality includes Medupi Power Station and forms part of South Africa's Waterberg coalfields.
The party and its deputy chairperson asked the Electoral Court to order the Independent Electoral Commission to remove Mohau Ronald Mjakula as the party's recognised leader and proportional representation councillor and replace him with Lesiba George Moloantoa.
