Bela-Bela Local Municipality

Bela-Bela Local Municipality is located in the Waterberg District Municipality of Limpopo province, South Africa. The seat of Bela-Bela Local Municipality is Bela-Bela.

Bela-Bela
Local municipality
Seal
Location in Limpopo
Coordinates: 24°55′S 28°15′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Limpopo
District	Waterberg
Seat	Bela-Bela
Wards	9
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Sello Freddy Hlungwane
Area
• Total	3,406 km^2 (1,315 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	66,500
• Density	20/km^2 (51/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	84.8%
• Coloured	1.5%
• Indian/Asian	0.6%
• White	12.9%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Northern Sotho	38.4%
• Tswana	16.7%
• Afrikaans	13.5%
• Tsonga	10.6%
• Other	20.8%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	LIM366

"Bela" is a Sesotho word meaning "to boil", referring to the hot water springs found in the area.[4]

Main places

The 2011 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[5]

Place	Code	Area (km^2)	Population
Bela-Bela	981003	23.29	45,001
Bela-Bela NU	981002	3,373.73	13,616
Pienaarsrivier	981009	2.06	1,897
Rapotokwane	981007	2.17	2,787
Rust De Winter	981008	0.38	105
Settlers	981005	1.17	819
Vingerkraal	981001	1.14	827
Welgegund Village	981006	1.94	1,448

Politics

The municipal council consists of seventeen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Nine councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in nine wards, while the remaining eight 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 3 August 2016 the African National Congress (ANC) won a narrow majority of nine seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.[6][7]

Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	ANC	8,410	8,509	16,919	51.5	7	2	9
	Democratic Alliance	4,461	4,471	8,932	27.2	2	3	5
	Economic Freedom Fighters	2,121	2,168	4,289	13.1	0	2	2
	Bushbuckridge Residents Association	928	940	1,868	5.7	0	1	1
	Independent	211	–	211	0.6	0	–	0
	Ubuntu Party	85	94	179	0.6	0	0	0
	Congress of the People	88	70	158	0.5	0	0	0
	South African Christian Movement	39	82	121	0.4	0	0	0
	ACDP	25	60	85	0.3	0	0	0
	Pan Africanist Congress	43	35	78	0.2	0	0	0
Total		16,411	16,429	32,840	100.0	9	8	17
Spoilt votes		303	313	616

In a by-election held on 17 July 2018, a ward previously held by a DA councillor was won by an ANC candidate.[8] Council composition was reconfigured as seen below:

Party		Ward	PR list	Total
	ANC	8	2	10
	Democratic Alliance	1	3	4
	Economic Freedom Fighters	0	2	2
	Bushbuckridge Residents Association	0	1	1
Total		9	8	17

References

1. "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
2. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
3. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
4. South African Languages - Place names
5. Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
6. "Results Summary – All Ballots: Bela-Bela" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
7. "Seat Calculation Detail: Bela-Bela" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
8. "ANC wins Bela-Bela local municipality by-election". The Citizen. 24 July 2018.

External links

• Official homepage