Stuurman refuses to resign as Matatiele Mayor, dares councillors to vote him out
Matatiele Local Municipality Mayor, Cllr Patrick Stuurman, has refused to step down from his position despite pressure from the African National Congress (ANC) Provincial leadership. Stuurman, who also serves as the Provincial Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Eastern Cape, said those who want him removed must do so through a vote of no confidence.
Cllr Stuurman took over as Mayor in April 2025, following the resignation of Cllr Sonwabile Mngenela, who was forced by the ANC to step aside after being criminally charged for allegedly defrauding the municipality of R13,940. However, on 22 September 2025, Mngenela’s case was struck off the roll after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) failed to allocate a prosecutor.
On 15 October 2025, ANC Provincial Secretary Lulama Ngcukayithobi wrote to Cllr Stuurman, instructing him to resign within 24 hours and hand over the mayoral position to Mngenela by Thursday, 16 October.
In an interview with The Informer, Stuurman firmly rejected the directive, stating that he would not resign.
“I won’t do that. I cannot be treated like somebody who was called from the street and given the responsibility of being the Mayor. I am a member of the ANC, elected by council, and if they want me out, they must use their vote of no confidence to remove me,” said Stuurman.
Meanwhile, Regional Secretary of the ANC, Polelo Mohale, described Ngcukayithobi’s letter as premature, saying the matter was yet to be discussed in the ongoing Provincial Meeting.
No tags for this post.“We are in a Provincial Meeting, and we expect this matter to be deliberated there. There are a number of comrades who faced criminal charges, stepped aside, and later won their cases but were never reinstated. I don’t see Cllr Mngenela successfully returning to the position,” Mohale told The Informer.
