Nketoana Local Municipality

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

Nketoana
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Free State
Country	South Africa
Province	Free State
District	Thabo Mofutsanyane
Seat	Reitz
Wards	9
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Mamiki Mokoena
Area
• Total	5,611 km2 (2,166 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	66,488
• Density	12/km2 (31/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2022) [3]
• Black African	90.4%
• Coloured	0.2%
• Indian/Asian	0.3%
• White	8.9%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Sotho	75.9%
• Zulu	10.7%
• Afrikaans	8.7%
• Sign language	1.7%
• Other	3%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	FS193

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:^[4]

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population	Most spoken language
Arlington	41401	5.51	222	Sotho
Cremona	41402	0.46	2,021	Sotho
Leratswana	41403	0.82	3,429	Sotho
Lindley	41404	21.07	1,621	Afrikaans
Mamafubedu	41405	1.38	8,121	Sotho
Ntha	41407	2.16	8,500	Sotho
Petrus Steyn	41408	9.74	1,163	Afrikaans
Petsana	41409	2.76	13,670	Sotho
Reitz	41410	6.51	1,781	Afrikaans
Remainder of the municipality	41406	5,560.92	21,423	Sotho

Politics

Main article: Nketoana Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of eighteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Nine councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in nine wards, while the remaining nine 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 reduced majority of ten seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.^[5]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	6,469	49.26	8	7,148	54.72	2	10
	Democratic Alliance	1,613	12.28	1	1,695	12.98	2	3
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,501	11.43	0	1,698	13.00	2	2
	Freedom Front Plus	1,039	7.91	0	1,029	7.88	2	2
	Independent candidates	1,887	14.37	0				0
	All Unemployment Labour Alliance				676	5.18	1	1
	5 other parties	624	4.75	0	816	6.25	0	0
Total		13,133	100.00	9	13,062	100.00	9	18
Valid votes		13,133	98.01		13,062	97.49
Invalid/blank votes		267	1.99		336	2.51
Total votes		13,400	100.00		13,398	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		28,691	46.70		28,691	46.70

Corruption and service delivery protests

In 2019, residents of Mamafubedu torched the house of mayor Mamikie Mokoena, accusing her of failing to deliver water for a week to residents of Mandela Park. Allegations of tender corruption arose involving a contractor linked to the mayor and her cousin.^[6][7]

In June 2024, the Democratic Alliance accused to municipality of purchasing a truck for R2.3 million in May 2023, but never used it, leaving it parked at the municipal offices.^[8]

In August 2024 Mamiki Mokoena was accused of using a rented car which cost her municipality R100,000 in a single month.^[9][10][11] The municipality suffered a net loss of R170m for the period ended on 30 June 2023 and its liabilities exceeded its assets by R740m. There was also R47,6m in fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the 2022/23 financial year, which was due to interest and penalties on overdue accounts.

In September 2024, the Economic Freedom Fighters in the Free State opened a criminal case against mayor Maditsoako Mamiki Mokoena related to the car hire.^[12] Nketoana Local Municipality municipal manager and the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) have been requested to open a criminal case against Baleri ba Aforikaand investigate the alleged irregularities in the procurement processes over the supply and delivery of Personal Protective Equipment.^[13]

Nketoana Local Municipality audit reports^[14]

In August 2024, Disebo Motaung, a director at the municipality, came under fire after making a ‘kill the boer’ comment, referring to Dubul' ibhunu on a senior managers WhatsApp group. The matter was reported to the South African Police Service for investigation and then referred to the SA Human Rights Commission.^[15] Fraud case was opened against Nketoana municipality speaker for ‘suspect travel claims’ in the same month.^[16]

In September 2024 the mayor faced R17m nepotism allegations.^[17] On 8 October 2024 top municipal employee was charged with fraud after the allegation of approving a car allowance for unqualified employee.^[18]

On 24 October 2024 municipal manager Mokete Nhlapo suspended one of the general employee Mangaliso Hlongwane who accused him of fraud and corruption.^[19]

On the 10th April 2025 Nketoana local municipality charged one of its employees for the information that was leaked on social media.^[20]

In May 2025 the municipality was in the news for its allegedly irregular appointments.^[21] It was reported that the municipality advertised 43 open vacancies but ended up hiring 71 people, most of whom were never interviewed, while some were friends and family of the municipal employees.^[22][23]Nketoana has since turned to the high court to have the re-instatement of general workers dismissed.^[24] As of July 2025, Nketoana was one of seven worst run municipalities in the country.^[25]From best to worst Municipality over the past 7 years due to bad administration tha costed the Nketoana Local Municipality over R500 million.^[26]