Thabazimbi Municipality (Tswana: Mmasepala wa Thabazimbi; Afrikaans: Thabazimbi Munisipaliteit; Xhosa: uMasipala wase Thabazimbi) is a local municipality within the Waterberg District Municipality, in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The seat is Thabazimbi.
Thabazimbi | |
|---|---|
 Seal | |
.svg) Location in Limpopo | |
| Coordinates: 24°35′S 27°10′E / 24.583°S 27.167°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Limpopo |
| District | Waterberg |
| Seat | Thabazimbi |
| Wards | 12 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal council |
| • Mayor | Tokkie Swanepoel[1] (DA) |
| • Speaker | Butana Thlabadira[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 11,190 km2 (4,320 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[3] | |
• Total | 65,047 |
| • Density | 5.8/km2 (15/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2022) | |
| • Black African | 76.2% |
| • Coloured | 0.5% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.4% |
| • White | 22.8% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Tswana | 41.2% |
| • Afrikaans | 15.7% |
| • Xhosa | 12.3% |
| • Northern Sotho | 8.0% |
| • Other | 22.8% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Municipal code | LIM361 |
Thabazimbi is a Sotho–Nguni name meaning "iron ore mountain". The early Bantu communities (Sotho, Venda, Kalanga, Nguni and Nyasa) worked on this mountain to mine iron.[5]
Main places
editThe 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[6]
| Place | Code | Area (km2) | Population | Most spoken language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amandelbult | 91401 | 47.73 | 2,076 | Tswana |
| Ipeleng | 91402 | 0.02 | 940 | Tswana |
| Middeldrift | 91403 | 1.15 | 2,138 | Afrikaans |
| Mmebane | 91404 | 0.01 | 283 | Northern Sotho |
| Northam | 91405 | 47.56 | 6,180 | Tswana |
| Regorogile | 91406 | 1.11 | 7,609 | Tswana |
| Rooiberg Tin Mine | 91407 | 4.32 | 250 | Afrikaans |
| Rooikrans | 91408 | 2.69 | 153 | Tswana |
| Smersha Block | 91409 | 1.33 | 12,875 | Xhosa |
| Swartklip | 91410 | 14.18 | 2,912 | Afrikaans |
| Swartkop | 91411 | 0.56 | 103 | Afrikaans |
| Thabazimbi | 91413 | 10.76 | 4,423 | Afrikaans |
| Remainder of the municipality | 91412 | 9,723.06 | 23,968 | Tswana |
Politics
editThe municipal council consists of twenty-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twelve councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twelve wards, while the remaining eleven 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 plurality of 11 seats.
The following table shows the results of the election.
| Party | Ward | List | Total seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| African National Congress | 8,845 | 47.34 | 11 | 8,827 | 47.46 | 0 | 11 | |
| Democratic Alliance | 2,872 | 15.37 | 1 | 2,834 | 15.24 | 3 | 4 | |
| Thabazimbi Residents Association | 2,031 | 10.87 | 0 | 2,077 | 11.17 | 3 | 3 | |
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 1,929 | 10.32 | 0 | 1,940 | 10.43 | 2 | 2 | |
| Freedom Front Plus | 1,724 | 9.23 | 0 | 1,641 | 8.82 | 2 | 2 | |
| Thabazimbi Forum for Service Delivery | 604 | 3.23 | 0 | 665 | 3.58 | 1 | 1 | |
| Independent candidates | 159 | 0.85 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 3 other parties | 520 | 2.78 | 0 | 615 | 3.31 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 18,684 | 100.00 | 12 | 18,599 | 100.00 | 11 | 23 | |
| Valid votes | 18,684 | 98.61 | 18,599 | 98.62 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 263 | 1.39 | 260 | 1.38 | ||||
| Total votes | 18,947 | 100.00 | 18,859 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 45,688 | 41.47 | 45,688 | 41.28 | ||||
The municipality was dissolved due to dysfunctionality, and a full set of elections, ward and PR, were held to elect a new council in December 2024.[8] The following table shows the results of the election.
| Party | Ward | List | Total seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| African National Congress | 7,766 | 39.21 | 10 | 7,943 | 40.09 | 0 | 10 | |
| Democratic Alliance | 3,172 | 16.02 | 1 | 3,251 | 16.41 | 3 | 4 | |
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 2,626 | 13.26 | 0 | 2,652 | 13.39 | 3 | 3 | |
| Labour Party | 1,682 | 8.49 | 1 | 1,722 | 8.69 | 1 | 2 | |
| Freedom Front Plus | 1,444 | 7.29 | 0 | 1,363 | 6.88 | 2 | 2 | |
| uMkhonto weSizwe | 666 | 3.36 | 0 | 680 | 3.43 | 1 | 1 | |
| Thabazimbi Residents Association | 316 | 1.60 | 0 | 447 | 2.26 | 1 | 1 | |
| Independent candidates | 437 | 2.21 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 14 other parties | 1,695 | 8.56 | 0 | 1,754 | 8.85 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 19,804 | 100.00 | 12 | 19,812 | 100.00 | 11 | 23 | |
| Valid votes | 19,804 | 98.53 | 19,812 | 98.47 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 295 | 1.47 | 308 | 1.53 | ||||
| Total votes | 20,099 | 100.00 | 20,120 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 51,399 | 39.10 | 51,399 | 39.14 | ||||
| Source: [9][10] | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b "DA's Tokkie Swanepoel elected as the Mayor of the Thabazimbi Municipality".
- ^ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Thabazimbi (Local Municipality, South Africa)". Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location. 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "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 — Thabazimbi". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ Sussman, Wayne (2024-12-05). "Thabazimbi by-election: ANC weathers storm, carnage for local parties". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ^ "Municipal by-election results". Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
- ^ "Municipal by-elections dashboard". Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 6 December 2024.