Mogale City mayor Patrick Lipudi dies after short illness

Mogale City Mayor Naga Patrick Lipudi passed away on Sunday morning after a short illness at the age of 59.

He was admitted to Helen Joseph hospital yesterday.

Sabelo Ngwane, chief administration officer in the mayor’s office, confirmed he died after a short illness in the early hours of this morning.

“The family is devastated by this sudden death of a father and a pillar of strength to the wife and kids,” he said.

Funeral arrangements would be confirmed once a family meeting had taken place.

He became the mayor in June 2017 after the ANC wrested back control of the municipality from the DA, with allegations that DA councillors had betrayed their party in an earlier motion of no confidence.

Lipudi was the third mayor to be elected since August, replacing Michael Holenstein, who had himself replaced the DA’s Lynn Pannall, who resigned due to ill health.

At the time, Democratic Alliance councillors were asked to undergo lie detector tests voluntarily to determine who had voted with the ANC. DA councillor Brandon May did not go through with the test and instead sent his letter of resignation to Lipudi, who had been the speaker prior to becoming mayor.

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