Metsimaholo Local Municipality
Local municipality in Free State, South Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Metsimaholo Municipality (Sotho: Masepala wa Metsimaholo; Afrikaans: Metsimaholo Munisipaliteit) is a local municipality within the Fezile Dabi District Municipality, in the Free State province of South Africa. Metsimaholo means "big water" in Sesotho.[4]
Metsimaholo | |
|---|---|
|
Seal | |
 Location in the Free State | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Free State |
| District | Fezile Dabi |
| Seat | Sasolburg |
| Wards | 23 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal council |
| • Mayor | Jack Malindi (AIC) |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,717 km2 (663 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | |
• Total | 158,391 |
| • Density | 92.25/km2 (238.9/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2022) | |
| • Black African | 85.1% |
| • Coloured | 0.8% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.3% |
| • White | 13.9% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Sotho | 59.9% |
| • Afrikaans | 16.7% |
| • Xhosa | 7.6% |
| • Zulu | 6.0% |
| • Other | 9.8% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Municipal code | FS204 |
Main places
The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[5]
| Place | Code | Area (km2) | Population | Most spoken language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bertha Village | 41901 | 0.58 | 666 | Sotho |
| Coalbrook | 41902 | 0.69 | 30 | Xhosa |
| Deneysville | 41903 | 6.50 | 1,124 | Afrikaans |
| Holly Country | 41904 | 0.93 | 614 | Afrikaans |
| Metsimaholo | 41914 | 0.79 | 3,193 | Sotho |
| Oranjeville | 41906 | 7.73 | 297 | Afrikaans |
| Refengkgotso | 41907 | 5.65 | 13,792 | Sotho |
| Richmond Valley | 41908 | 0.37 | 209 | Afrikaans |
| Sasolburg | 41909 | 49.82 | 24,568 | Afrikaans |
| Taaibos | 41910 | 1.50 | 1,301 | Afrikaans |
| Vaal Power | 41911 | 0.65 | 798 | Sotho |
| Viljoensdrif | 41912 | 2.49 | 589 | Sotho |
| Zamdela | 41913 | 10.21 | 57,070 | Sotho |
| Remainder of the municipality | 41905 | 1,651.37 | 11,723 | Sotho |
Politics
The municipal council consists of forty-six members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-three councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-three wards, while the remaining twenty-three are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.
In the election of 1 November 2021, no party won a majority on the council. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) formed a coalition with the African National Congress (ANC). The EFF's Selloane Motjeane was elected mayor, while Lucas Fisher of the ANC was elected Speaker and Fikile Msokweni of the ANC the Council Whip. However, that coalition collapsed and Jeff Zwane of the Democratic Alliance was subsequently elected mayor.[6] In 2023, Zwane was voted out of office in a motion of no confidence, and Jack Malindi of the African Independent Congress (AIC) was subsequently elected mayor.[7]
The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.[8]
| Party | Ward | List | Total seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| African National Congress | 12,612 | 34.23 | 15 | 12,860 | 34.71 | 1 | 16 | |
| Democratic Alliance | 9,612 | 26.09 | 6 | 9,744 | 26.30 | 6 | 12 | |
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 9,160 | 24.86 | 2 | 9,521 | 25.69 | 10 | 12 | |
| Freedom Front Plus | 1,826 | 4.96 | 0 | 1,842 | 4.97 | 3 | 3 | |
| Independent candidates | 1,178 | 3.20 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| African Independent Congress | 588 | 1.60 | 0 | 526 | 1.42 | 1 | 1 | |
| Metsimaholo Community Association | 418 | 1.13 | 0 | 492 | 1.33 | 1 | 1 | |
| African Transformation Movement | 387 | 1.05 | 0 | 459 | 1.24 | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 other parties | 1,065 | 2.89 | 0 | 1,610 | 4.35 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 36,846 | 100.00 | 23 | 37,054 | 100.00 | 23 | 46 | |
| Valid votes | 36,846 | 98.33 | 37,054 | 98.66 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 625 | 1.67 | 502 | 1.34 | ||||
| Total votes | 37,471 | 100.00 | 37,556 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 81,379 | 46.05 | 81,379 | 46.15 | ||||