Masilonyana Local Municipality

Masilonyana Municipality (Sotho: Masepala wa Masilonyana; Xhosa: uMasipala wase Masilonyana) is a local municipality within the Lejweleputswa District Municipality, in the Free State province of South Africa. Masilonyana is a Setswana word meaning "freedom".^[4]

Masilonyana
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Free State
Coordinates: 28.5167°S 27.0167°E / -28.5167; 27.0167
Country	South Africa
Province	Free State
District	Lejweleputswa
Seat	Theunissen
Wards	10
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Kunatu Steve Koalane
Area
• Total	6,796 km2 (2,624 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	63,800
• Density	9.4/km2 (24/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2022) [2]
• Black African	89.3%
• Coloured	0.8%
• Indian/Asian	0.3%
• White	9.5%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Sotho	66.9%
• Xhosa	10.8%
• Afrikaans	9.6%
• Tswana	6.9%
• Other	5.8%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	FS181

Main places

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

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population	Most spoken language
Brandfort		27.08	3,134	Afrikaans
Ikgomotseng		1.14	3,253	Tswana
Majemasweu		2.79	9,765	Sotho
Makeleketla		3.69	12,701	Sotho
Masilo		4.70	21,963	Sotho
Theunissen		9.15	1,549	Afrikaans
Tshepong		0.61	2,042	Sotho
Verkeerdevlei		7.27	93	Afrikaans
Winburg		63.46	1,373	Afrikaans
Remainder of the municipality		6,676.18	7,461	Sotho

Politics

Main article: Masilonyana Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of nineteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Ten councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in ten wards, while the remaining nine 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 eleven seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.^[6]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	6,793	52.97	9	7,286	56.67	2	11
	Democratic Alliance	2,455	19.14	1	2,801	21.78	3	4
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,171	9.13	0	1,536	11.95	2	2
	Independent candidates	1,426	11.12	0				0
	Freedom Front Plus	701	5.47	0	676	5.26	1	1
	Forum for Service Delivery	102	0.80	0	196	1.52	1	1
	3 other parties	177	1.38	0	363	2.82	0	0
Total		12,825	100.00	10	12,858	100.00	9	19
Valid votes		12,825	97.53		12,858	97.56
Invalid/blank votes		325	2.47		322	2.44
Total votes		13,150	100.00		13,180	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		29,408	44.72		29,408	44.82

Financial mismanagement

In January 2025, the municipality was listed as one of the top ten municipalities in arrears on their pension contributions.^[7]