Ditsobotla Local Municipality

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Ditsobotla
Local municipality
Ditsobotla CoA.png
Seal
Map of the North West with Ditsobotla highlighted.svg
Location in the North West
Country South Africa
Province North West
District Ngaka Modiri Molema
Seat Lichtenburg
Wards 21
Government
[1]
 • Type Municipal council
 • MayorTsholofelo Moreo
Area
 • Total
6,465 km2 (2,496 sq mi)
Population
 (2011) [2]
 • Total
168,902
 • Density26.13/km2 (67.66/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[2]
 •  Black African 89.1%
 •  Coloured 1.9%
 •  Indian/Asian 0.6%
 •  White 8.2%
First languages (2011)
[2]
 •  Tswana 78.6%
 •  Afrikaans 9.8%
 •  Xhosa 3.0%
 •  English 2.4%
 • Other6.2%
Time zone UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeNW384

Ditsobotla Municipality (Tswana : Mmasepala wa Ditsobotla) is a local municipality within the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, in the North West province of South Africa. The seat of the municipality is Lichtenburg.

Contents

Main places

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

PlaceCodeArea (km2)PopulationMost spoken language
Bakwena Ba Ga Serobatse 60901 2.371,392 Tswana
Banogeng 60902 0.72502Tswana
Boikhutso 60903 2.2216,914Tswana
Coligny 60904 3.502,271 Afrikaans
Ga-Raphalane 60906 26.3424,104Tswana
Itekeng 60907 0.352,591Tswana
Itsoseng 60908 7.6222,879Tswana
Kopano 60909 6.788,325Tswana
Lichtenburg 60910 87.1311,927Afrikaans
Mosiane 60911 1.731,056Tswana
Tlhabologang 60912 0.635,852Tswana
Remainder of the municipality 60905 6,325.4945,059Tswana

Politics

The municipal council consists of thirty-nine members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty wards, while the remaining nineteen 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 twenty-one seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election. [4]

PartyWardListTotal
seats
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
African National Congress 15,00550.001715,62553.19421
Economic Freedom Fighters 4,19513.9804,83816.4766
Democratic Alliance 4,27614.2534,29114.6136
Independent candidates 3,08210.2700
Freedom Front Plus 1,2264.0901,3054.4422
Forum for Service Delivery 1,0823.6101,1093.7822
African Christian Democratic Party 4011.3404421.5011
African Independent Congress 7702.6211
7 other parties7402.4709943.3800
Total30,007100.002029,374100.001939
Valid votes30,00797.0329,37495.10
Invalid/blank votes9182.971,5154.90
Total votes30,925100.0030,889100.00
Registered voters/turnout69,42144.5569,42144.50

After infighting between two African National Congress factions, resulting in the council having two mayors and two speakers, the council was dissolved by the national and provincial governments. A by-election to elect an entirely new council will be held in December 2022. [5]

Municipal collapse

The municipality has experienced a collapse in basic services due to corruption, financial mismanagement and political instability. In 2025, it failed to submit financial reports to the Auditor General for scrutiny.

In November 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa described it as "a town taken over by gangsterism". [6]

The council was dissolved, and by-elections held in December 2022. [7] [8]

However, the situation did not improve, and in October 2023, the court ordered the council be placed under provincial intervention.

In April 2025, after continued deterioration, non-profit organisation Sakeliga is seeking the highest form of intervention, national intervention. [6]

In July 2025, the court ordered the municipality to pay R7.5 million, plus interest, outstanding to a contractor. The contractor had completed electrical repairs in December 2023 according to its contract agreeing a fee of R7.6 million for the services. However, the municipality paid only R100,000, and then later claimed that the procurement was unlawful, making the contract invalid. [9]

In September 2025, cabinet placed Ditsobotla under administration. [10]

References

  1. ↑ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa [ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Ditsobotla". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  5. ↑ Importer, Pongrass (30 November 2022). "Parties aim to take power from ANC in by-elections amid disagreements". The Citizen. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Important South African town taken over by gangsters" . Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  7. ↑ Importer, Pongrass (30 November 2022). "Parties aim to take power from ANC in by-elections amid disagreements". The Citizen. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  8. ↑ Sussman, Wayne (15 December 2022). "DECEMBER BY-ELECTIONS: North West misery – ANC hammered in Ditsobotla as EFF delivers blows in townships, villages, farm areas". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  9. ↑ https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2025-07-17-ditsobotla-municipality-ordered-to-pay-contractor-over-r75m/ [ bare URL ]
  10. ↑ Kgobotlo, Boitumelo (5 September 2025). "Cabinet places embattled North West municipality under administration". Sunday World. Retrieved 5 September 2025.

26°5′S26°15′E / 26.083°S 26.250°E / -26.083; 26.250


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