Motheo District Municipality
Encyclopedia
Motheo was, until the municipal elections of 18 May 2011, a district
of the Free State
province of South Africa
. At the time of the 2011 elections it was disestablished as a consequence of Mangaung Local Municipality being upgraded to a metropolitan municipality
The Motheo District Municipality Head Office was based in Bloemfontein
, which also serves as the capital of the Free State Province and as the judicial capital of South Africa.
, and Mantsopa became part of Thabo Mofutsanyane
.
: Mangaung, Mantsopa, and Naledi.
Of these, Mangaung Local Municipality - now Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality
- is the most densely populated; it features the greatest concentration of well-developed infrastructure and services in the Bloemfontein area, which offers a wide range of amenities to the surrounding rural communities. As of 2007, Mangaung Municipality had a population of 752,906 (roughly 90% of Motheo's total population).
Mantsopa Local Municipality
, located to the east of Mangaung, is a mixed agricultural area, with a population of 59,028 (7% of the total).
Naledi Local Municipality
, located to the southeast of Mangaung, is largely characterized by livestock-oriented farming, and has a population of 25,445 (3% of the total).
In Mantsopa Local Municipality:
In Naledi Local Municipality:
Districts of South Africa
South Africa is divided into 52 districts . The 12th amendment to the Constitution reduced this number from 53. Another effect of this amendment is that each district is now completely contained within a province, thus eliminating cross-border districts. The districts also cover the entire area of...
of the Free State
Free State
The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic and later Orange Free State Province. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans...
province of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. At the time of the 2011 elections it was disestablished as a consequence of Mangaung Local Municipality being upgraded to a metropolitan municipality
Metropolitan municipality (South Africa)
In South Africa, a metropolitan municipality or Category A municipality is a municipality which executes all the functions of local government for a city or conurbation...
The Motheo District Municipality Head Office was based in Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
, which also serves as the capital of the Free State Province and as the judicial capital of South Africa.
Disestablishment
The Motheo District was disestablished on 18 May 2011. When this happened, of its three constituent local municipalities, Mangaung was upgraded to become an autonomous metropolitan municipality, Naledi became part of XhariepXhariep District Municipality
Xhariep is one of the 5 districts of Free State province of South Africa. The seat of Xhariep is Trompsburg. The largest language group in the 135 253 people is Afrikaans...
, and Mantsopa became part of Thabo Mofutsanyane
Thabo Mofutsanyane District Municipality
Thabo Mofutsanyana is one of the 5 districts of the Free State province of South Africa. The seat of Thabo Mofutsanyana is Witsieshoek. The majority of its 725 932 people speak Sesotho...
.
Neighbours
Motheo was surrounded by:- Lejweleputswa DistrictLejweleputswa District MunicipalityLejweleputswa is one of the 5 districts of Free State province of South Africa. The seat of Lejweleputswa is Welkom. The majority of its 657 019 people speak Sotho...
(DC18) to the north - Thabo Mofutsanyane DistrictThabo Mofutsanyane District MunicipalityThabo Mofutsanyana is one of the 5 districts of the Free State province of South Africa. The seat of Thabo Mofutsanyana is Witsieshoek. The majority of its 725 932 people speak Sesotho...
(DC19) to the northeast - The kingdom of LesothoLesothoLesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
to the east - Xhariep DistrictXhariep District MunicipalityXhariep is one of the 5 districts of Free State province of South Africa. The seat of Xhariep is Trompsburg. The largest language group in the 135 253 people is Afrikaans...
(DC16) to the southwest
Local municipalities
The district was divided into three local municipalitiesLocal municipality (South Africa)
In South Africa, a local municipality or Category B municipality is a type of municipality that serves as the third, and most local, tier of local government...
: Mangaung, Mantsopa, and Naledi.
Of these, Mangaung Local Municipality - now Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality
Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality
Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality which governs Bloemfontein and surrounding towns in the Free State province of South Africa. Mangaung is a Sesotho name meaning "place of leopards"...
- is the most densely populated; it features the greatest concentration of well-developed infrastructure and services in the Bloemfontein area, which offers a wide range of amenities to the surrounding rural communities. As of 2007, Mangaung Municipality had a population of 752,906 (roughly 90% of Motheo's total population).
Mantsopa Local Municipality
Mantsopa Local Municipality
Mantsopa Local Municipality is a local municipality in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District of the Free State in South Africa.-Origin of the name:...
, located to the east of Mangaung, is a mixed agricultural area, with a population of 59,028 (7% of the total).
Naledi Local Municipality
Naledi Local Municipality, Free State
Naledi Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Xhariep District of the Free State in South Africa. The name is a Sesotho word meaning "a star"....
, located to the southeast of Mangaung, is largely characterized by livestock-oriented farming, and has a population of 25,445 (3% of the total).
Settlements
In Mangaung Local Municipality:- BloemfonteinBloemfonteinBloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
— Motheo's seat and most prominent urban node; also the capital of the Free State province. - BotshabeloBotshabelo, Free StateThere is another Botshabelo, MpumalangaBotshabelo, meaning "a place of refuge", is a large black settlement set up by the then apartheid government 45 km east of Bloemfontein, Free State province, South Africa...
— A typical dormitory town created under apartheid legislation to accommodate future urbanisation of the BasothoBasothoThe ancestors of the Sotho people have lived in southern Africa since around the fifth century. The Sotho nation emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I who gathered together disparate clans of Sotho–Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century...
people. - Thaba NchuThaba NchuThaba Nchu is a town in Free State, South Africa, located 60 km east of Bloemfontein. Its population is largely made up of Tswana and Sotho people. The town was settled in the 1830s and officially established in 1873...
— A traditional settlement that serves as a home for the BarolongBarolongRolong is a tribal name for the Tswana living in North West in South Africa, principally in Mafikeng . Other Barolong communities are found in Lotlhakane and Thaba Nchu...
; it is surrounded by 37 rural villages.
In Mantsopa Local Municipality:
- TweespruitTweespruitTweespruit is a small dairy farming town in the Free State province of South Africa. It started out as an experimental farm set up on an old British Boer War settlement which was between "two creeks" hence the name....
— A small rural town approximately 35 km east of Thaba Nchu. - LadybrandLadybrandLadybrand is a small agricultural town in the Free State province of South Africa, situated 18 km from Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. Ladybrand is one of five towns that forms the Mantsopa Local Municipality...
— The most eastern urban area in Motheo. - ExcelsiorExcelsior, Free StateExcelsior is a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa. It was formed by farmers in 1910 who wanted a town which was closer to them than Winburg and Ladybrand....
— A rural town located 35 km north of Tweespruit, along the R709 road. - HobhouseHobhouse, Free StateHobhouse is a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa, named after welfare campaigner Emily Hobhouse. Maize, wheat, cheese and livestock are produced here.-External links:*...
— A rural town located 45 km south of Tweespruit, along the R709 road. - Thaba Patchoa — A rural village planned during the apartheid era as a ColouredColouredIn the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers to an heterogenous ethnic group who possess ancestry from Europe, various Khoisan and Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, West Africa, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, India, Mozambique,...
settlement.
In Naledi Local Municipality:
- DewetsdorpDewetsdorpDewetsdorp is a small town in the Free State province of South Africa. The town was set up, without approval of the Volksraad, by field-cornet Jacobus de Wet, father of the Boer War general Christiaan de Wet. Eventually recognized officially, the town became a municipality and named De Wet in...
— A small town approximately 71 km southeast of Bloemfontein, situated along the R702 road. - WepenerWepenerWepener is a village in the Free State, South Africa, located on the border with Lesotho. The town is named after Louw Wepener, the leader of the Boers in their war with the Basotho chief Moshoeshoe I in 1865. It was founded in 1867 on the banks of Jammersbergspruit, a tributary of the Caledon...
— A village 35 km southeast of Dewetsdorp, Wepener is the gateway to MafetengMafetengMafeteng is a city in Lesotho, and the Camptown of the district of Mafeteng. It is located about 76 kilometres south of the country's capital, Maseru and has a population of approximately 61,000...
in LesothoLesothoLesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
, with the Van Rooyen Border Gate approximately 7 km away. Wepener is also not far from the Caledon Nature ReserveCaledon Nature ReserveCaledon Nature Reserve is situated on the Caledon River in the Free State, South Africa, and is about 2300 ha in size. The park is close to the Lesotho border. Wepener is its closest town.-Wildlife:...
and the Welbedacht DamWelbedacht DamWelbedacht Dam is situated in South Africa, and was established in 1973.Bloemfontein is the sixth largest city in South Africa with a population of approximately 300 000. It is situated in the Modder River catchment which has insufficient water resources to meet the growing water requirements...
. - Van Stadensrus — A small rural town approximately 29 km south of Wepener, next to the Egmont DamEgmont DamEgmont Dam is dam on the Witte Spruit, near Van Stadensrus, Free State, South Africa. It was established in 1937.- References :* from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry...
.