Setsoto Local Municipality
Local municipality in Free State, South Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Setsoto Municipality (Sotho: Masepala wa Setsoto) is a local municipality within the Thabo Mofutsanyane District Municipality, in the Free State province of South Africa. Setsoto is a Sesotho word meaning "beauty". The seat is Ficksburg. Other towns include Senekal, Clocolan and Marquard. The municipality is rich in agriculture and is known for producing cherries.
Setsoto | |
|---|---|
|
Seal | |
 Location in the Free State | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Free State |
| District | Thabo Mofutsanyane |
| Seat | Ficksburg |
| Wards | 18 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal council |
| • Mayor | Seipati Mbiwe |
| Area | |
• Total | 5,966 km2 (2,303 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | |
• Total | 127,918 |
| • Density | 21.44/km2 (55.53/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2022) | |
| • Black African | 91.5% |
| • Coloured | 0.9% |
| • Indian/Asian | 1.2% |
| • White | 6.3% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Sotho | 87.2% |
| • Afrikaans | 7.1% |
| • English | 2.9% |
| • Sign language | 1.2% |
| • Other | 1.6% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Municipal code | FS191 |
The first mayor was Ms M.Molete and the current is Ms Seipati Mbiwe.[4]
Main places
The 2011 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[5]
| Place | Code | Area (km2) | Population | Most spoken language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clocolan | 15.76 | 1,349 | Afrikaans | |
| Ficksburg | 50.35 | 5,400 | Afrikaans | |
| Hlohlolwane | 3.21 | 16,253 | Sotho | |
| Marquard | 7.30 | 1,033 | Afrikaans | |
| Matwabeng | 3.65 | 22,076 | Sotho | |
| Meqheleng | 4.13 | 35,848 | Sotho | |
| Moemaneng | 1.86 | 14,469 | Sotho | |
| Senekal | 32.88 | 3,466 | Afrikaans | |
| Setsoto/Willem Pretorius Game Reserve | 130.11 | 185 | Sotho | |
| Remainder of the municipality | 5,712.13 | 12,519 | Sotho |
Politics
The municipal council consists of thirty-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Seventeen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in seventeen wards, while the remaining sixteen 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 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of seventeen seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.[6]
| Party | Ward | List | Total seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| African National Congress | 12,405 | 50.77 | 14 | 12,409 | 51.14 | 3 | 17 | |
| Setsoto Service Delivery Forum | 5,597 | 22.91 | 3 | 5,542 | 22.84 | 5 | 8 | |
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 2,174 | 8.90 | 0 | 2,263 | 9.33 | 3 | 3 | |
| Democratic Alliance | 1,687 | 6.90 | 0 | 1,701 | 7.01 | 2 | 2 | |
| Freedom Front Plus | 1,253 | 5.13 | 0 | 1,106 | 4.56 | 2 | 2 | |
| African Transformation Movement | 320 | 1.31 | 0 | 304 | 1.25 | 1 | 1 | |
| Independent candidates | 408 | 1.67 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 5 other parties | 588 | 2.41 | 0 | 938 | 3.87 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 24,432 | 100.00 | 17 | 24,263 | 100.00 | 16 | 33 | |
| Valid votes | 24,432 | 97.88 | 24,263 | 97.36 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 529 | 2.12 | 658 | 2.64 | ||||
| Total votes | 24,961 | 100.00 | 24,921 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 55,718 | 44.80 | 55,718 | 44.73 | ||||