Sol Plaatje Local Municipality

Sol Plaatje Municipality (Afrikaans: Sol Plaatje Munisipaliteit; Tswana: Mmasepala wa Sol Plaatje) is a local municipality within the Frances Baard District Municipality, in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is named after Sol T. Plaatje. It includes the diamond mining city of Kimberley.

Sol Plaatje
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Northern Cape
Coordinates: 28°50′S 24°40′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Northern Cape
District	Frances Baard
Seat	Kimberley
Wards	31
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Kagisho Dante Sonyoni[2] (ANC)
Area
• Total	3,145 km2 (1,214 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[3]
• Total	270,078
• Density	86/km2 (220/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2022) [3]
• Black African	62.0%
• Coloured	27.9%
• Indian/Asian	1.3%
• White	8.7%
First languages (2011) [4]
• Afrikaans	45.2%
• Tswana	33.2%
• English	8.0%
• Xhosa	5.6%
• Other	8%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	NC091

Main places

The 2011 census divided the municipality into the following main places:^[5]

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population
Galeshewe	383005	15.24	107,920
Kimberley	383006	142.77	96,977
Motswedimosa	383008	0.86	7,240
Platfontein	383004	1.77	5,185
Ritchie	383007	23.93	7,610
Roodepan	383003	6.28	20,263
Vaalbos National Park	383001	110.13	0
Non-urban areas	383002	2,844.41	2,846
Total		3,145.39	248,041

Politics

Main article: Sol Plaatje Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of sixty-five members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirty-three councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirty-three wards, while the remaining thirty-two 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 majority of thirty-three seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the election.^[6][7]

Sol Plaatje local election, 1 November 2021
Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	African National Congress	30,837	30,913	61,750	50.2%	27	6	33
	Democratic Alliance	12,591	12,702	25,293	20.5%	6	8	14
	Economic Freedom Fighters	5,600	5,994	11,594	9.4%	0	6	6
	Sol- Plaatjie Service Delivery Forum	2,645	2,923	5,568	4.5%	0	3	3
	Patriotic Alliance	2,577	2,834	5,411	4.4%	0	3	3
	Freedom Front Plus	2,243	2,096	4,339	3.5%	0	3	3
	Good	2,092	2,099	4,191	3.4%	0	2	2
	Independent candidates	1,648	–	1,648	1.3%	0	–	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	570	456	1,026	0.8%	0	1	1
	Congress of the People	183	394	577	0.5%	0	0	0
	Azanian People's Organisation	274	269	543	0.4%	0	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	234	251	485	0.4%	0	0	0
	Africa's New Dawn	135	147	282	0.2%	0	0	0
	Spectrum National Party	129	91	220	0.2%	0	0	0
	Economic Emancipation Forum	121	64	185	0.2%	0	0	0
Total		61,879	61,233	123,112		33	32	65
Valid votes		61,879	61,233	123,112	98.4%
Spoilt votes		907	1,097	2,004	1.6%
Total votes cast		62,786	62,330	125,116
Voter turnout		63,026
Registered voters		128,236
Turnout percentage		49.1%

Mayors

• Maria Chwarisang
• Patrick Lenyibi
• Patrick Everyday
• Agnes Ntlhangula
• David Molusi^[8]
• Mangaliso Matika^[9][10]
• Pule Thabane^[11]
• Patrick Mabilo^[12]
• Kagisho Dante Sonyoni