Lekwa Local Municipality
Lekwa Local Municipality is a South African local municipality situated in the Gert Sibande District Municipality, of Mpumalanga. Standerton is the seat of the municipality.
Main places
The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:| Place | Code | Area | Population | Most spoken language |
| Morgenzon | 4.99 | 2,324 | Zulu | |
| Sakhile | 6.15 | 39,773 | Zulu | |
| Sivukile | 0.40 | 1,743 | Zulu | |
| Standerton | 36.52 | 23,291 | Afrikaans | |
| Thuthukani | 0.95 | 2,507 | Zulu | |
| Tutuka | 0.48 | 315 | Zulu | |
| Remainder of the municipality | 4,536.73 | 33,321 | Zulu |
Politics
The municipal council consists of thirty members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Fifteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in fifteen wards, while the remaining fifteen 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 3 August 2016 the African National Congress won a majority of twenty seats on the council.The following table shows the results of the election.
Mismanagement
During 2019 the municipality's main water treatment plant in Standerton was in disrepair and was causing pollution of the upper Vaal River. The municipality was unable to explain why large amounts of money spent on the problem had not yet brought a solution. The stench of sewage was also affecting residents of Meyerville in Standerton. At the same time the town's basic infrastructure appeared visibly aged, with traffic lights being out of order, and potholes present on most streets. It was also taken to court by businesses around Standerton for failing to provide clean and sufficient water and electricity. These interruptions were due to the municipality's soaring debt to Eskom, and its non-payment for services provided by the department of water and sanitation. Notwithstanding it spent large amounts on private security, events, cars, travelling, accommodation and restaurants during 2018 and 2019.Anthony Turton of the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of the Free State, noted that a dysfunctional municipality is usually recognized by the fact that it cannot maintain its sewerage works. To assist users downstream, clean water had to be pumped into the river to dilute its high salt levels, thereby wasting a large quantity of this scarce resource.