Thaba Chweu Local Municipality

Thaba Chweu Municipality (Northern Sotho: Mmasepala wa Thaba Chweu; Swazi: Masipaladi iThaba Chweu; Afrikaans: Thaba Chweu Munisipaliteit) is a local municipality within the Ehlanzeni District Municipality, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa.

Thaba Chweu Municipality - Graskop Administration Unit

Thaba Chweu
Local municipality
Seal
Location in Mpumalanga
Coordinates: 25°5′S 30°35′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Mpumalanga
District	Ehlanzeni
Seat	Lydenburg
Wards	14
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Friddah Nkadimeng (ANC)
Area
• Total	5,719 km2 (2,208 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	98,387
• Density	17/km2 (45/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	81.6%
• Coloured	2.6%
• Indian/Asian	0.6%
• White	14.5%
First languages (2011) [2]
• Northern Sotho	36.2%
• Swazi	17.8%
• Afrikaans	15.2%
• Zulu	7.7%
• Other	23.1%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	MP321

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:^[3]

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population	Most spoken language
Graskop	81401	1.57	2,326	Afrikaans
Lydenburg	81402	26.12	6,858	Afrikaans
Mashishing	81403	4.19	16,185	Northern Sotho
Pilgrim's Rest	81404	15.28	16,251	Northern Sotho
Sabie	81405	78.81	5,674	Afrikaans
Simile	81406	0.94	6,265	Swazi
Remainder of the municipality	81407	5,553.77	27,679	Northern Sotho

Politics

Main article: Thaba Chweu Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of twenty-seven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Fourteen are elected by first-past-the-post voting in fourteen wards, while the remaining thirteen 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 sixteen seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the election.^[4]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	12,552	58.05	12	12,699	58.61	4	16
	Democratic Alliance	4,744	21.94	2	4,730	21.83	4	6
	Economic Freedom Fighters	2,435	11.26	0	2,570	11.86	3	3
	Freedom Front Plus	773	3.57	0	793	3.66	1	1
	African Unified Movement	300	1.39	0	282	1.30	1	1
	Independent candidates	305	1.41	0				0
	6 other parties	514	2.38	0	594	2.74	0	0
Total		21,623	100.00	14	21,668	100.00	13	27
Valid votes		21,623	98.47		21,668	98.38
Invalid/blank votes		337	1.53		357	1.62
Total votes		21,960	100.00		22,025	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		50,959	43.09		50,959	43.22