Matatiele Local Municipality

Matatiele Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Alfred Nzo District of Eastern Cape in South Africa.

The name is derived from the Sesotho language and it means "the ducks have flown", in an apparent reference to the abundance of waterfowl that even today inhabit the surrounding pools and marshes.

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population	Most spoken language
Cedarville	54901	12.19	2,064	Xhosa
Harry Gwala Park	54902	0.87	2,778	Xhosa
Itsokolele	54903	0.40	1,426	Xhosa
Matatiele	54904	6.74	5,214	Xhosa
Mzingisi	54905	0.15	434	Xhosa
Remainder of the municipality	54906	1,396.30	4,303	Xhosa

Politics

The municipal council consists of fifty-two members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-six councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-six wards, while the remaining twenty-six 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 18 May 2011 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of thirty-nine seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.

Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	African National Congress	36,000	37,786	73,786	72.0	26	13	39
	African Independent Congress	6,395	7,109	13,504	13.2	0	7	7
	Democratic Alliance	2,387	2,481	4,868	4.7	0	3	3
	Congress of the People	1,854	2,002	3,856	3.8	0	2	2
	Independent	3,844	–	3,844	3.8	0	–	0
	United Democratic Movement	1,080	1,557	2,637	2.6	0	1	1
Total		51,560	50,935	102,495	100.0	26	26	52
Spoilt votes		1,882	2,918	4,800

External links

• http://matatiele.gov.za/