Ngwathe Municipality (Sotho: Masepala wa Ngwathe; Afrikaans: Ngwathe Munisipaliteit) is a local municipality within the Fezile Dabi District Municipality, in the Free State province of South Africa. Ngwathe is the Sesotho name for the Renoster River.[5]
Ngwathe | |
|---|---|
 Seal | |
.svg) Location in the Free State | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Free State |
| District | Fezile Dabi |
| Seat | Parys |
| Wards | 20 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal council |
| • Mayor | Victoria de Beer[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 7,055 km2 (2,724 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[3] | |
• Total | 120,520 |
| • Density | 17/km2 (44/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 86.5% |
| • Coloured | 2.6% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.3% |
| • White | 10.3% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Sotho | 68.6% |
| • Afrikaans | 13.4% |
| • Xhosa | 8.5% |
| • Zulu | 3.4% |
| • Other | 6.1% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Municipal code | FS203 |
Main places
editThe 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[6]
| Place | Code | Area (km2) | Population | Most spoken language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edenville | 41801 | 9.25 | 896 | Sotho |
| Heilbron | 41802 | 26.47 | 9,652 | Sotho |
| Koppies | 41803 | 114.90 | 967 | Afrikaans |
| Kwakwatsi | 41804 | 1.81 | 7,830 | Sotho |
| Mokwallo | 41805 | 1.87 | 8,637 | Sotho |
| Ngwathe | 41811 | 0.88 | 5,294 | Sotho |
| Parys | 41807 | 17.28 | 10,716 | Afrikaans |
| Phiritona | 41808 | 3.10 | 15,874 | Sotho |
| Tumahole | 41809 | 23.21 | 33,084 | Sotho |
| Vredefort | 41810 | 19.77 | 3,053 | Sotho |
| Remainder of the municipality | 41806 | 6,860.55 | 22,811 | Sotho |
Politics
editThe municipal council consists of thirty-six members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Eighteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in eighteen wards, while the remaining eighteen 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 reduced majority of twenty-one seats on the council.
The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.[7]
| Party | Ward | List | Total seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| African National Congress | 15,913 | 55.51 | 18 | 16,020 | 55.80 | 3 | 21 | |
| Democratic Alliance | 5,489 | 19.15 | 1 | 5,532 | 19.27 | 6 | 7 | |
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 3,764 | 13.13 | 0 | 3,913 | 13.63 | 5 | 5 | |
| Freedom Front Plus | 1,829 | 6.38 | 0 | 1,832 | 6.38 | 3 | 3 | |
| Ngwathe Residents Association | 751 | 2.62 | 0 | 738 | 2.57 | 1 | 1 | |
| Independent candidates | 412 | 1.44 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 7 other parties | 507 | 1.77 | 0 | 676 | 2.35 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 28,665 | 100.00 | 19 | 28,711 | 100.00 | 18 | 37 | |
| Valid votes | 28,665 | 98.27 | 28,711 | 98.20 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 506 | 1.73 | 526 | 1.80 | ||||
| Total votes | 29,171 | 100.00 | 29,237 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 63,783 | 45.73 | 63,783 | 45.84 | ||||
Attempted fraud of the municipality
editIn October 2024, Abram Maheso was arrested after attempting to defraud the municipality of R800 000 by claiming the account as his own when setting up an investment account.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Ngwathe se nuwe burgemeester ingehuldig". Parys Gazette. 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
- ^ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ South African Languages - Place names
- ^ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
- ^ "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Ngwathe". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ admin (2024-10-18). "Free State Man Uses Municipality Account to Scheme R800,000 from Liberty Group". FREE STATE INSIDER. Retrieved 2024-10-20.