Amathole District Municipality

The Amathole District Municipality (Xhosa: uMasipala weSithili sase Amathole) is one of the 7 districts of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat is East London. As of 2011, over 90% of its 892,637 inhabitants spoke isiXhosa. The district code is DC12. Amathole means "calves", the name of the mountain range and forest which forms the northern boundary of the district.^[3]

Amathole Amatola District
District municipality
Seal
Location in South Africa
Coordinates: 32°30′S 27°30′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
Seat	East London
Local municipalities	List Mbhashe Mnquma Great Kei Amahlathi Ngqushwa Raymond Mhlaba
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Anele Ntsangani = (ANC)
Area
• Total	21,595 km2 (8,338 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	892,637
• Density	41/km2 (110/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	97.2%
• Coloured	1.5%
• Indian/Asian	0.1%
• White	1.0%
First languages (2011) [2]
• Xhosa	93.6%
• English	2.3%
• Afrikaans	2.1%
• Other	2%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	DC12

Government

The Executive Mayor of Amathole District Municipality since 2016 is Anele Ntsangani, [] and the Municipal Manager is [Dr Bhekisisa J Mthembu].

Geography

Neighbours

Amathole is surrounded by:

• Chris Hani District (DC13) to the north
• OR Tambo District (DC15) to the north-east
• the Indian Ocean to the south-east
• Sarah Baartman District (DC10) to west

Local municipalities

The district contains the following local municipalities:

Local municipality	Population	%
Mnquma	252,390	28.27%
Mbhashe	254,909	28.56%
Amahlathi	122,778	13.75%
Ngqushwa	72,190	8.09%
Great Kei	38,991	4.37%
Raymond Mhlaba	151,379	16.96%

Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality, following amalgamation of Nxuba (24,264; 2.72%) and Nkonkobe (127,115; 14.24%)] municipalities.

Demographics

The following statistics are from the 2011 census.

Languages

Language	Population	%
Xhosa	817,395	93.62%
English	19,647	2.25%
Afrikaans	18,230	2.09%
Sign language	5,164	0.59%
Zulu	2,637	0.30%
Other	2,391	0.27%
Sotho	2,069	0.24%
Northern Sotho	1,741	0.20%
Ndebele	1,691	0.19%
Tswana	1,167	0.13%
Venda	401	0.05%
Swati	345	0.04%
Tsonga	250	0.03%

Gender

Gender	Population	%
Female	473,389	53.03%
Male	419,247	46.97%

Ethnic group

Ethnic group	Population	%
Black African	868,017	97.24%
Coloured	13,133	1.47%
White	8,949	1.00%
Indian/Asian	1,126	0.13%

Age

Age	Population	%
000 - 004	147,098	8.84%
005 - 009	192,361	11.56%
010 - 014	216,586	13.01%
015 - 019	208,995	12.56%
020 - 024	146,750	8.82%
025 - 029	115,632	6.95%
030 - 034	99,327	5.97%
035 - 039	96,666	5.81%
040 - 044	92,560	5.56%
045 - 049	77,430	4.65%
050 - 054	59,027	3.55%
055 - 059	47,029	2.83%
060 - 064	53,352	3.21%
065 - 069	38,858	2.33%
070 - 074	31,716	1.91%
075 - 079	18,830	1.13%
080 - 084	15,262	0.92%
085 - 089	4,022	0.24%
090 - 094	2,026	0.12%
095 - 099	559	0.03%
100 plus	173	0.01%

Politics

Election results

Election results for Amathole in the South African general election, 2004.

• Population 18 and over: 979,166 [58.83% of total population]
• Total votes: 630,953 [37.91% of total population]
• Voting % estimate: 64.44% votes as a % of population 18 and over

Party	Votes	%
African National Congress	523,630	82.99%
United Democratic Movement	50,559	8.01%
Democratic Alliance	32,467	5.15%
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania	7,627	1.21%
African Christian Democratic Party	4,492	0.71%
Independent Democrats	3,680	0.58%
New National Party	2,600	0.41%
Freedom Front Plus	795	0.13%
Inkhata Freedom Party	785	0.12%
Azanian People's Organisation	765	0.12%
SOPA	740	0.12%
United Christian Democratic Party	625	0.10%
EMSA	407	0.06%
Peace and Justice Congress	400	0.06%
UF	293	0.05%
National Alliance	269	0.04%
Christian Democratic Party	257	0.04%
TOP	236	0.04%
Keep It Straight and Simple Party	132	0.02%
New Labour Party	109	0.02%
Minority Front	85	0.01%
Total	630,953	100.00%

Maladministration

As of January 2024, the municipality is under administration, one of 32 in the country, and three in the Eastern Cape where the provincial executive has intervened due to maladministration^[4]