Tswelopele Local Municipality

Tswelopele Municipality (Sotho: Masepala wa Tswelopele; Xhosa: uMasipala wase Tswelopele; Tswana: Mmasepala wa Tswelopele) is a local municipality within the Lejweleputswa District Municipality, in the Free State province of South Africa. Tswelopele is a Sesotho word meaning "progress".^[4]

Tswelopele
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Free State
Coordinates: 28°17′27″S 26°09′00″E
Country	South Africa
Province	Free State
District	Lejweleputswa
Seat	Bultfontein
Wards	8
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Rosy Phukuntse
Area
• Total	6,524 km2 (2,519 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	56,896
• Density	8.7/km2 (23/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2022) [2]
• Black African	91.6%
• Coloured	0.5%
• Indian/Asian	0.3%
• White	7.4%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Sotho	54.0%
• Xhosa	19.9%
• Tswana	12.0%
• Afrikaans	8.3%
• Other	5.8%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	FS183

Main places

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

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population	Most spoken language
Bultfontein	40901	42.75	1,034	Afrikaans
Hoopstad	40902	28.34	662	Afrikaans
Phahameng	40903	3.37	20,063	Sotho
Tikwana	40904	1.73	11,032	Sotho
Remainder of the municipality	40905	6,447.20	20,913	Sotho

Politics

Main article: Tswelopele Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of fifteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Eight councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in eight wards, while the remaining seven 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.^[6]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	7,116	61.41	9	7,174	61.80	1	10
	Democratic Alliance	1,829	15.78	0	1,810	15.59	3	3
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,322	11.41	0	1,344	11.58	2	2
	Tikwana Youth Power	669	5.77	0	668	5.75	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	410	3.54	0	403	3.47	1	1
	Independent candidates	67	0.58	0				0
	3 other parties	175	1.51	0	210	1.81	0	0
Total		11,588	100.00	9	11,609	100.00	8	17
Valid votes		11,588	97.27		11,609	97.34
Invalid/blank votes		325	2.73		317	2.66
Total votes		11,913	100.00		11,926	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		25,856	46.07		25,856	46.12