Mantsopa Local Municipality

Mantsopa
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Free State
Country	South Africa
Province	Free State
District	Thabo Mofutsanyane
Seat	Ladybrand
Wards	9
Government[1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Sello Dennis Ntsepe
Area
• Total	4,291 km^2 (1,657 sq mi)
Population (2011)[2]
• Total	51,056
• Density	12/km^2 (31/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[2]
• Black African	88.4%
• Coloured	3.9%
• Indian/Asian	0.6%
• White	6.6%
First languages (2011)[3]
• Sotho	82.1%
• Afrikaans	9.8%
• English	4.1%
• Sign language	1.4%
• Other	2.6%
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)
Municipal code	FS196

Mantsopa Local Municipality is a local municipality in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District of the Free State in South Africa.

Origin of the name

Mantsopa was a sister to King Moshoeshoe who banished her from the Kingdom when he suspected that her powers were greater than his. When she arrived at Modderpoort there were no houses and she stayed in a cave. In 1886 a group of men called The Brotherhood of St Augustine arrived at Modderpoort, and Mantsopa accommodated them in her cave. The missionaries decided to stay and they turned the cave into a chapel. Mantsopa later joined the church and was baptised and given the name Anna. Mantsopa's grave continues to be visited and offerings are still placed on or near it.^[4]

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:^[5]

Place	Code	Area (km^2)	Population	Most spoken language
Borwa	40601	0.42	3,294	Sotho
Dipeleng	40602	0.15	822	Sotho
Excelsior	40603	11.37	485	Afrikaans
Hobhouse	40604	11.79	2,589	Sotho
Ladybrand	40605	43.05	4,214	Afrikaans
Mahalatswetsa	40606	1.64	4,881	Sotho
Manyatseng	40608	2.64	14,177	Sotho
Thaba Phatshwa	40609	2.17	434	Afrikaans
Thusanong	40610	0.56	2,989	Sotho
Tweespruit	40611	3.04	1,056	Sotho
Remainder of the municipality	40607	4,213.08	20,377	Sotho

Politics

The municipal council consists of seventeen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Nine councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in nine wards, while the remaining eight 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 18 May 2011 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of thirteen seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.^[6][7]

Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	African National Congress	10,197	10,398	20,595	73.6	9	4	13
	Democratic Alliance	1,945	1,941	3,886	13.9	0	3	3
	Congress of the People	1,034	1,061	2,095	7.5	0	1	1
	Independent	750	–	750	2.7	0	–	0
	Freedom Front Plus	222	180	402	1.4	0	0	0
	African People's Convention	71	107	178	0.6	0	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	42	46	88	0.3	0	0	0
Total		14,261	13,733	27,994	100.0	9	8	17
Spoilt votes		329	782	1,111

References

1. "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
2. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
3. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
4. South African Languages - Place names
5. Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
6. "Results Summary – All Ballots: Mantsopa" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
7. "Seat Calculation Detail: Mantsopa" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 November 2013.

External links

• http://www.mantsopa.net/

Coordinates: 29°11′40″S 27°27′22″E / 29.19444°S 27.45611°E