Thembelihle Local Municipality

At the end of the apartheid era, in the area that is today the Thembelihle Municipality, there were municipal councils for Hopetown and Strydenburg which were elected by the white residents, while the coloured residents of Steynville (Hopetown) and Strydenburg were governed by management committees subordinate to the white councils. The remaining rural areas were served by the Bo-Karoo Regional Services Council.

After the national elections of 1994 a process of local government transformation began, in which negotiations were held between the existing local authorities, political parties, and local community organisations. As a result of these negotiations, the existing local authorities were dissolved and transitional local councils (TLCs) were created for each town. The Strydenburg municipality and management committee were replaced by a TLC in September 1994, and the Hopetown municipality and Steynville management committee were replaced by a TLC in March 1995. The transitional councils were initially made up of members nominated by the various parties to the negotiations, until May 1996 when elections were held. At these elections the Bo-Karoo District Council was established, replacing the Bo-Karoo Regional Services Council. Transitional representative councils (TRCs) were also elected to represent the areas not included in the TLCs on the District Council; the area that was to become Thembelihle Municipality was part of the Oranje-Karoo TRC, except for Orania which had a separate TRC.

At the local elections of December 2000 the TLCs and TRCs were dissolved and the Oranje-Karoo Municipality (renamed Thembelihle in June 2001) was established as a single local authority. The Orania TRC challenged its dissolution in the Kimberley High Court, and under a settlement with the provincial government this TRC retained its powers and functions indefinitely pending further negotiations.^[5][6] Orania residents are entitled to vote in elections for the Thembelihle council, and 21% of registered voters in Orania cast a ballot in the 2021 elections,^[7] but as of 2016^[update] they did not receive any municipal services from Thembelihle.^[5]

The municipality covers an area of 8,023 square kilometres (3,098 sq mi) on the left (south) bank of the Orange River, approximately 130 kilometres (80 mi) south of the provincial capital Kimberley. The principal town is Hopetown (pop. 10,259), which is situated on the Orange River. Other settlements are Strydenburg (pop. 2,987) situated 50 kilometres (30 mi) to the south-west of Hopetown, and Orania (pop. 2,874 at 2023) situated on the Orange River 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the south-east of Hopetown. The remainder of the municipality is rural, mostly used for farming of sheep and goats while intensive irrigated agriculture occurs along the Orange River. The main transport links in the municipal area are the N12 national road and the De Aar–Kimberley railway line, both of which pass north-south through the municipality.

At the time of the 2022 census, the population of the municipality had increased to 22,542 people. Of these, 67.3% identified as "Coloured," 19.7% as "White," and 12.2% as "Black African." The White population of the municipality more than doubled between 2011 and 2022, from 2,055 persons to 4,433, driven primarily by the growth of the Afrikaner town of Orania.^[8][9]

In the census of 2011, the municipality had a reported population of 15,701 inhabitants in 4,140 households, giving a population density of 1.96 inhabitants per square kilometre (5.1/sq mi). 70.75% of residents identified as "Coloured," 15.23% as "Black African," and 13.09% as "White."^[10]

According to the census, the main spoken language in the municipality is Afrikaans, which is home language of 89% of residents. It is followed by isiXhosa (5%), English and Setswana (1% each). 31% of residents were under the age of 15.^[10]