ANC suspends North West mayor

"By virtue of his suspension, the respondent [Thale] will no longer be able to represent the applicant [provincial working committee] as the mayor and councillor of the Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality and must accordingly vacate his position," the PDC said in its ruling.

The municipality has its seat in Zeerust.

Thale was charged with six counts of misconduct over Rule 25 of the party's constitution, which relates to management of organisational discipline.

The matter arose when Thale refused to resign as mayor after the provincial working committee (PWC) asked that he do so because he was not the preferred candidate of the provincial executive committee (PEC) or the national executive committee (NEC).

It was common practice in the ANC that the nomination of candidates was agreed upon by the party. It was then subjected to various processes that would culminate in various structures of the party endorsing the final list.

Thale argued he was the municipality's duly elected candidate and saw no need to heed the PWC's call.

After he ignored several calls to resign, the PWC wrote him a final notice which he failed to abide by. The PWC then referred the matter to the PDC.

The PDC said Thale had a right to appeal its decision with the national disciplinary committee.