Moqhaka Local Municipality

Moqhaka Municipality (Sotho: Masepala wa Moqhaka; Afrikaans: Moqhaka Munisipaliteit) is a local municipality within the Fezile Dabi District Municipality, in the Free State province of South Africa.^[4] In 2022, the population was 155,410 with a total area of 7925 km². The seat is Kroonstad.^[5] Moqhaka is the Sesotho word for "crown".^[6]

Moqhaka
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Free State
Country	South Africa
Province	Free State
District	Fezile Dabi
Seat	Kroonstad
Wards	25
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Cllr. M. Mokatsane
• Municipal Manager	Mr. S.M Mqwathi
Area
• Total	7,925 km2 (3,060 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	155,410
• Density	20/km2 (51/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2022) [2]
• Black African	85.8%
• Coloured	2.9%
• Indian/Asian	0.3%
• White	10.9%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Sotho	74.6%
• Afrikaans	13.6%
• Xhosa	3.9%
• English	2.5%
• Other	5.4%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	FS201

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:^[7]

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population	Most spoken language
Kroonstad	41701	232.04	23,992	Afrikaans
Maokeng	41702	12.62	67,929	Sotho
Matlwangtlwang	41703	1.59	6,441	Sotho
Rammulutsi	41705	4.03	24,578	Sotho
Steynsrus	41706	1.66	1,192	Afrikaans
Vaal Reefs Mine	41707	12.04	5,050	Sotho
Vierfontein	41708	2.84	832	Afrikaans
Viljoenskroon	41709	13.73	2,514	Afrikaans
Remainder of the municipality	41704	7,619.38	35,362	Sotho

Politics

Main article: Moqhaka Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of forty-four members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-two councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-two wards, while the remaining twenty-two 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 twenty-two seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.^[8]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	15,703	49.93	19	15,477	49.17	3	22
	Democratic Alliance	6,669	21.21	3	6,669	21.19	7	10
	Economic Freedom Fighters	3,553	11.30	0	3,705	11.77	5	5
	Moqhaka Community Forum	1,797	5.71	0	2,231	7.09	3	3
	Freedom Front Plus	1,863	5.92	0	1,957	6.22	3	3
	Power of Africans Unity	502	1.60	0	481	1.53	1	1
	Independent candidates	629	2.00	0				0
	7 other parties	734	2.33	0	959	3.05	0	0
Total		31,450	100.00	22	31,479	100.00	22	44
Valid votes		31,450	97.96		31,479	98.05
Invalid/blank votes		654	2.04		625	1.95
Total votes		32,104	100.00		32,104	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		76,378	42.03		76,378	42.03

Curruption

In August 2025, the ANC Provincial Executive Committee resolved to fire its leaders in all underperforming local governments to address governance failures, corruption, and service delivery challenges ahead of the 2026 local elections. Moqhaka Local Municipality was among those municipalities affected after years of corruption and maladministration.^[9]