The political future of the chairperson of the ANC Vhembe region and executive mayor of the Vhembe District Municipality, Cllr Tshitereke Matibe, hangs in the balance, following the decision by the provincial task team (PTT) to place the Vhembe region under PTT administration.

The ANC provincial task team in Limpopo has disbanded the Sekhukhune, Peter Mokaba and Mopani regions. said the party on Tuesday. The other two regions, Vhembe and Waterberg, would be placed under PTT administration.

This means its leaders would be under the close supervision of the team, said the spokesperson for the PTT, Mr Sello Lediga, in a media statement. He said the move was part of the decisions taken by branches during the consultations in January that recommended the disbandment.

“It is the best interest of the organization to disband the three regions in order to create an environment in which the ANC can begin to rebuild its structures. The investigation focused on allegations of mismanagement of party affairs and institutionalized factions. The disbanded structures were accused of running parallel structures and preventing members from participating in the process before the ANC’s Mangaung conference,” said Lediga.

He added that this was going to impact on the party's plans to rebuild the ANC and a regional task team will be announced very soon. Mopani was led by Joshua Matlou, Peter Mokaba by Lawrence Mapaulo and Sekhukhune by David Mogabe. Lediga added that the ANC would not take a decision on the future of the executive mayors at this stage.

In March, the Limpopo PEC, chaired by Premier Cassel Mathale, was dissolved after the decision taken by the ANC’s national executive committee. Matibe was elected ANC Vhembe Region chairperson last year in May after defeating the former chairperson, Philemon Falaza Mdaka, during the regional conference.

Meanwhile, the secretary of the ANC Vhembe Region, Mr Khathu Netshifhefhe, rejected claims that the Vhembe region has been placed under close administration of the PTT, despite the media statement from the Limpopo PTT. “We will have full powers, operating normally as mandated by the constitution. We are committed to work to unite the party towards the provincial election scheduled for December this year,” said Netshifhefhe.