Mkhondo Municipality (Zulu: UMasipala wase Mkhondo) is a local municipality within the Gert Sibande District Municipality, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Piet Retief is the seat of the municipality.
Mkhondo | |
|---|---|
 Seal | |
.svg) Location in Mpumalanga | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Mpumalanga |
| District | Gert Sibande |
| Seat | Piet Retief |
| Wards | 19 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal council |
| • Mayor | Ngelosi Ndlovu |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4,882 km2 (1,885 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[2] | |
| • Total | 171,982 |
| • Density | 35/km2 (91/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 94.7% |
| • Coloured | 0.5% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.8% |
| • White | 3.7% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Zulu | 89.1% |
| • Afrikaans | 3.5% |
| • English | 2.4% |
| • Swazi | 1.8% |
| • Other | 3.2% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Municipal code | MP303 |
Main places
editThe 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[3]
| Place | Code | Area (km2) | Population | Most spoken language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | 80301 | 4.36 | 1,452 | Swati |
| Dirkiesdorp | 80302 | 3.30 | 523 | Zulu |
| Driefontein | 80303 | 53.65 | 15,319 | Zulu |
| Ethandakukhanya | 80304 | 8.49 | 24,867 | Zulu |
| KwaNgema | 80305 | 12.13 | 1,003 | Zulu |
| KwaThandeka | 80306 | 2.91 | 5,085 | Zulu |
| Ngema | 80308 | 86.10 | 3,539 | Zulu |
| Piet Retief | 80309 | 55.41 | 13,052 | Zulu |
| Shabalala | 80310 | 13.71 | 807 | Zulu |
| Remainder of the municipality | 80307 | 4,628.84 | 77,246 | Zulu |
Politics
editThe municipal council consists of thirty-eight members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Nineteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in nineteen wards, while the remaining nineteen 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 twenty-one seats on the council.
The following table shows the results of the election.[4]
| Party | Ward | List | Total seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| African National Congress | 15,043 | 50.57 | 16 | 17,048 | 57.52 | 5 | 21 | |
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 4,944 | 16.62 | 0 | 5,856 | 19.76 | 7 | 7 | |
| Democratic Alliance | 2,634 | 8.85 | 1 | 3,115 | 10.51 | 3 | 4 | |
| Independent candidates | 4,473 | 15.04 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Inkatha Freedom Party | 812 | 2.73 | 0 | 1,114 | 3.76 | 1 | 1 | |
| Freedom Front Plus | 796 | 2.68 | 0 | 1,027 | 3.47 | 1 | 1 | |
| African Transformation Movement | 478 | 1.61 | 0 | 670 | 2.26 | 1 | 1 | |
| National Freedom Party | 228 | 0.77 | 0 | 393 | 1.33 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 other parties | 341 | 1.15 | 0 | 413 | 1.39 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 29,749 | 100.00 | 19 | 29,636 | 100.00 | 19 | 38 | |
| Valid votes | 29,749 | 97.88 | 29,636 | 96.23 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 645 | 2.12 | 1,160 | 3.77 | ||||
| Total votes | 30,394 | 100.00 | 30,796 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 70,522 | 43.10 | 70,522 | 43.67 | ||||
Political assassinations
editThe municipality was described as "the epicentre of political assassinations" after a number of assassinations. In 2022, Sbonelo Mthembu accused former mayor Vusi Motha of having assassinated African National Congress regional secretary Gert Sibande. Mthembu himself was later assassinated. Motha stated that he had intended to sue Mthembu for defamation.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Mkhondo Local Municipality - Council & Management". municipalities.co.za. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
- ^ a b c "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
- ^ "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Mkhondo". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
- ^ Yende, Sizwe sama. "Mkhondo: Mpumalanga's new epicentre of political assassinations". City Press. Retrieved 2024-01-08.