News24 | Khalipha’s last stand: Convicted Free State mayor fights to keep career alive

Matjhabeng Local Municipality Mayor Thanduxolo Khalipha is racing against time to clear his name.

Matjhabeng Local Municipality/Facebook

• The NPA conceded it failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt on any charge against Matjhabeng Mayor Thanduxolo Khalipha.
• Khalipa sits at number seven on the ANC PR list for the Lejweleputswa District Municipality.
• The ANC’s disciplinary process runs independently of the courts, keeping his political future in doubt.
• For more political news, visit News24 Politics.

The executive mayor of Matjhabeng Local Municipality in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality in the Free State, Thanduxolo Khalipha, had spent two years fighting to clear his name after a February 2024 incident with his bodyguards spiralled into a conviction that threatened to derail everything he had built in the ANC.

With the ANC’s 2026 candidate-selection rules explicitly stating that a candidate must “have no criminal record or criminal charges brought by the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority)”, Khalipha has been in a race against time to clear his name to stand a good chance of being the district municipality mayor ahead of the local government elections on 4 November.

Under ANC rules, a conviction bars him from being appointed as the mayor.

Senior provincial executive committee members in the Free State say Khalipha needs his appeal to succeed, else his name would be struck from the ballot.

READ | ANC accused of flouting its own rules in Free State mayoral candidate row

According to the ANC proportional representation (PR) list for Lejweleputswa District Municipality submitted on 16 September, Khalipha is number seven.

The placement put him in contention for the district mayoralty if the ANC wins enough seats and the court clears him.

The case against Khalipha involves an altercation at a community imbizo in Kutlwanong. Khalipha was travelling with his driver and protector, Frank Moreroa, and bodyguard Sphamandla Msomi.

After the angry community started stoning his vehicle, shattering the back window, Khalipha allegedly instructed Moreroa to stop, but he refused. Khalipha allegedly started slapping him across the face for refusing to stop.

The State charged him with common assault and two counts of crimen injuria.

In November 2024, Odendaalsrus Magistrate Shaun Malander convicted him on all three.

In December 2024, he sentenced Khalipha to a R5 000 fine or three months’ imprisonment for assault, and R1 000 or one month each for crimen injuria. He declared him unfit to possess a firearm.

The convictions triggered a chain reaction, including the ANC’s step-aside policy kicking in. Khalipha stepped down for months.

READ | A convicted mayor, R14bn debt, a flouted court order and the party bosses blocking accountability

In April 2025, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula instructed the Free State leadership to reinstate him, citing an escalation to the national executive committee (NEC). The reprieve did not last.

On 26 May 2026, the NEC endorsed an integrity commission report and referred Khalipha to the national disciplinary committee under Rule 25, citing conduct that brought the organisation into disrepute.

Lejweleputswa regional chairperson Xolile Toki called for his removal from the Matjhabeng “troika” – mayor, speaker and chief whip – warning that retaining him could damage the ANC at the ballot box.

The ANC’s national leadership kept him alive when the party placed him among seven mayoral candidates for Matjhabeng on 22 August 2026.

Weeks later, the Electoral Commission of South Africa certified him at number seven on the district proportional representation list. Critics and residents complained about his inclusion, citing his conviction, pending disciplinary referral, and Matjhabeng’s financial troubles.

The ANC, they argued, was undermining its own rules by keeping a convicted person on the ballot.

Khalipha’s legal team filed their heads of argument on 30 September, two days late, seeking condonation. They attacked the judgment on three fronts.

First, that Malander breached fair-trial rights by exceeding his jurisdiction, consulting colleagues, injecting views, and telling the prosecutor to “wake up” – conduct the defence said made him both “referee and player”.

Second, that the convictions were wrongful: the contact with Moreroa was a lawful attempt to stop the vehicle in danger, not assault. The words were swearing, not a deliberate impairment of dignity.

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Third, that the sentence was excessive, including the firearm prohibition.

The State, through its advocate in the office of the Free State Director of Public Prosecutions, identified as M Strauss, did not oppose the appeal.

In its own heads of argument, the NPA conceded it failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt on any charge. On assault, the State accepted that the elements were not established and that Moreroa had not feared the contact.

On crimen injuria, the State accepted “fuck off” was idle abuse, not proof of injury to dignity.

The convictions should be set aside, the State submitted – alternatively, the sentences reduced.

On 19 October, the High Court heard arguments and reserved judgment.