Mafube Local Municipality

Mafube Municipality (Sotho: Masepala wa Mafube; Zulu: UMasipala wase Mafube) is a local municipality within the Fezile Dabi District Municipality, in the Free State province of South Africa.

Mafube
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Free State
Country	South Africa
Province	Free State
District	Fezile Dabi
Seat	Frankfort
Wards	9
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Jabulani Sigasa (ANC)
Area
• Total	3,971 km2 (1,533 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	61,150
• Density	15/km2 (40/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2022) [2]
• Black African	92.3%
• Coloured	0.5%
• White	7.0%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Sotho	64.4%
• Zulu	20.9%
• Afrikaans	8.3%
• Xhosa	1.7%
• Other	4.7%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	FS205

Mafube is a Sesotho word meaning "dawning of the new day".^[4]

Main places

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

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population	Most spoken language
Cornelia	42001	1.95	1,502	Sotho
Frankfort	42002	32.64	1,900	Zulu
Mafahlaneng	42003	145.68	5,367	Sotho
Namahadi	42005	4.28	19,413	Sotho
Ntshwanatsatsi	42006	0.36	1,867	Sotho
Qalabotjha	42007	1.95	17,244	Sotho
Villiers	42008	24.27	984	Zulu
Remainder of the municipality	42004	4,371.52	9,363	Sotho

Politics

Main article: Mafube 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 election of 1 November 2021 the African National Congress (ANC) won a reduced majority of ten seats on the council.

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

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	7,315	55.69	9	7,590	58.28	1	10
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,708	13.00	0	2,036	15.63	3	3
	Freedom Front Plus	1,216	9.26	0	1,242	9.54	2	2
	Democratic Alliance	1,026	7.81	0	1,195	9.18	2	2
	Independent candidates	1,446	11.01	0				0
	3 other parties	424	3.23	0	960	7.37	0	0
Total		13,135	100.00	9	13,023	100.00	8	17
Valid votes		13,135	98.40		13,023	98.25
Invalid/blank votes		213	1.60		232	1.75
Total votes		13,348	100.00		13,255	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		29,510	45.23		29,510	44.92

Mismanagement

In 2015 the municipal manager, Nkabi Hlubi, allegedly awarded tenders to the value of R21 million to Pit Dog Trading. The latter company allegedly manipulated its tender grading and provided Hlubi with kickbacks of R1 million each time a municipal payment was made. Hlubi appeared in the Bloemfontein magistrate's court in 2021 on charges of fraud and corruption.^[7]

As of January 2024, the municipality is under administration, one of 32 in the country, and three in the Free State where the provincial executive has intervened due to maladministration.^[8]

In September 2024, the Municipal Workers Retirement Fund took the municipality to court after the municipality had deducted close to R38 million from workers for pension fund contributions, but never paid this over to the pension fund.^[9] The court ordered the municipality to pay the outstanding pension fund money.^[10] In January 2025 the Bloemfontein High Court found Mafube mayor Tlhoare Motsoeneng and the CFO personally responsible for the pension fund money that has been missing from the municipal workers. They were both ordered to pay more than R14.6 million within 60 days.^[11][12][13]

In January 2025, the municipality was listed as one of the top ten municipalities in arrears on their pension contributions.^[13]

In March 2025, the court has ruled against the Free State municipalities including Mafube local government to end sewage crisis within its borders.^[14]