Kopanong Local Municipality

Kopanong Municipality (Sotho: Masepala wa Kopanong; Afrikaans: Kopanong Munisipaliteit; Xhosa: uMasipala wase Kopanong) is a local municipality within the Xhariep District Municipality, in the Free State province of South Africa. Kopanong is a Sesotho word meaning "meeting place or where people are invited". The name earmarks unity and seeks to encourage co-operation.^[4]

Kopanong
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Free State
Country	South Africa
Province	Free State
District	Xhariep
Seat	Trompsburg
Wards	8
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Xolani Tseletsele
Area
• Total	15,645 km2 (6,041 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	51,832
• Density	3.3/km2 (8.6/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2022) [2]
• Black African	69.3%
• Coloured	17.4%
• Indian/Asian	0.7%
• White	12.4%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Sotho	37.9%
• Afrikaans	34.8%
• Xhosa	20.6%
• Tswana	2.4%
• Other	4.3%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	FS162

Main places

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

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population	Most spoken language
Bethulie	40201	51.80	1,342	Afrikaans
Charlesville	40202	0.33	525	Sotho
Edenburg	40203	28.33	935	Afrikaans
Fauresmith	40204	54.64	1,276	Afrikaans
Ha-Rasebei	40205	11.27	7,203	Sotho
Hydro Park	40206	0.36	586	Afrikaans
Ipopeng	40207	0.75	2,770	Afrikaans
Itumeleng	40208	1.17	3,924	Sotho
Jagersfontein	40209	1.03	1,200	Afrikaans
Lephoi	40211	1.19	5,067	Xhosa
Madikgetla	40212	0.69	3,938	Sotho
Maphodi	40213	0.83	3,592	Xhosa
Oranjekrag	40214	3.82	350	Afrikaans
Philippolis	40215	67.55	1,170	Afrikaans
Poding-Tse-Rolo	40216	0.35	2,411	Xhosa
Qhoweng	40217	0.74	3,469	Sotho
Reddersburg	40218	18.01	967	Afrikaans
Springfontein	40219	40.78	1,753	Afrikaans
Trompsburg	40220	1.27	925	Afrikaans
Waterkloof	40221	20.84	6	Afrikaans
Remainder of the municipality	40210	14,937.34	12,524	Afrikaans

Politics

Main article: Kopanong Local Municipality elections

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 2021 South African municipal elections the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of eleven seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.^[6]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	7,835	65.15	9	8,055	66.93	2	11
	Democratic Alliance	1,996	16.60	0	1,967	16.34	3	3
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,120	9.31	0	1,299	10.79	2	2
	Freedom Front Plus	624	5.19	0	626	5.20	1	1
	Independent candidates	403	3.35	0				0
	African Transformation Movement	48	0.40	0	88	0.73	0	0
Total		12,026	100.00	9	12,035	100.00	8	17
Valid votes		12,026	97.91		12,035	97.45
Invalid/blank votes		257	2.09		315	2.55
Total votes		12,283	100.00		12,350	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		24,967	49.20		24,967	49.47

Financial mismanagement

In January 2025, the municipality was listed as one of the top ten municipalities in arrears on their pension contributions.^[7]