Letsemeng Local Municipality (original) (raw)

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Local municipality in Free State, South Africa

Letsemeng
Local municipality
Official seal of LetsemengSeal
Location in the Free StateLocation in the Free State
Country South Africa
Province Free State
District Xhariep
Seat Koffiefontein
Wards 6
Government[1]
• Type Municipal council
• Mayor Thandiwe Reachable
Area
• Total 9,829 km2 (3,795 sq mi)
Population (2022)[2]
• Total 43,101
• Density 4.385/km2 (11.36/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2022)[2]
• Black African 66.7%
• Coloured 23.2%
• Indian/Asian 0.6%
• White 9.1%
First languages (2011)[3]
• Afrikaans 63.7%
• Sotho 12.4%
• Xhosa 10.8%
• Tswana 9.7%
• Other 3.4%
Time zone UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code FS161

Letsemeng Municipality (Afrikaans: Letsemeng Munisipaliteit; Sotho: Masepala wa Letsemeng; Xhosa: uMasipala wase Letsemeng) is a local municipality within the Xhariep District Municipality, in the Free State province of South Africa.

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

Place Code Area (km2) Population Most spoken language
Boitumelong 40101 0.24 330 Afrikaans
Bolokanang 40102 0.92 6,343 Tswana
Diamant Hoogte 40103 0.11 1,208 Afrikaans
Ditlhake 40104 2.21 8,727 Afrikaans
Jacobsdal 40105 2.25 1,709 Afrikaans
Koffiefontein 40106 33.79 1,443 Afrikaans
Luckhoff 40108 30.38 2,388 Afrikaans
Oppermans 40109 0.26 1,167 Afrikaans
Petrusburg 40110 1.99 588 Afrikaans
Ratanang 40111 0.62 4,852 Afrikaans
Relebohile 40112 0.15 671 Afrikaans
Remainder of the municipality 40107 10,155.00 13,533 Afrikaans

The municipal council consists of thirteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Seven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in seven wards, while the remaining six 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 nine seats on the council.

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

Party Ward List Totalseats
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
African National Congress 6,188 64.02 7 6,220 65.04 2 9
Democratic Alliance 1,531 15.84 0 1,562 16.33 2 2
Economic Freedom Fighters 1,009 10.44 0 1,064 11.13 1 1
Freedom Front Plus 484 5.01 0 494 5.17 1 1
Independent candidates 286 2.96 0 0
2 other parties 167 1.73 0 223 2.33 0 0
Total 9,665 100.00 7 9,563 100.00 6 13
Valid votes 9,665 97.69 9,563 96.72
Invalid/blank votes 229 2.31 324 3.28
Total votes 9,894 100.00 9,887 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 19,472 50.81 19,472 50.78

In August 2025, the ANC Provincial Executive Committee resolved to fire all its leaders in the underperforming local municipalities to address governance failures, corruption, and service delivery challenges ahead of the 2026 local elections. Letsemeng was one of those municipalities affected after years of wasteful expenditures and irregular expenses.[6]

  1. ^ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
  3. ^ "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  4. ^ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
  5. ^ "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Letsemeng". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  6. ^ Online, Central News (2025-08-21). "ANC Free State to Fire Leaders in Mafube, Moqhaka, Letsemeng, Nketoana, Nala, and Lejweleputswa Municipalities | Central News South Africa". Retrieved 2025-08-22.

29°25′11″S 25°00′19″E / 29.41972°S 25.00528°E / -29.41972; 25.00528