Tlokwe Local Municipality
# Tlokwe Local Municipality

Tlokwe Local Municipality (before February 2007, Potchefstroom Local Municipality) was a local municipality in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality, North West Province, South Africa. The seat was Potchefstroom. After the municipal elections on 3 August 2016 it was merged into the larger JB Marks Local Municipality.

The most widely accepted theory on the origin of the name Potchefstroom is that the name is composed of three words: Potgieter, chef and stroom. The first syllable is that of Potgieter, the second from the fact that he was a "chef" or a leader of the emigrants, and the third signifying the Mooi River. The complete name "Potgieter" was gradually shortened to "Pot".

## In The News

In February 2013, then mayor of Tlokwe, prof. Annette Combrink declared that she would refuse to use the new official vehicle that was delivered to her. It was a customized Mercedes-Benz C350 CDI, worth R736,000.-, that the ANC ruled council had ordered in July 2012 for the previous mayor Maphetle Maphetle. Combrink represents the opposition Democratic Alliance but was elected mayor due to disagreements in the ANC led council. She declared to be quite happy to use her nine-year-old Volkswagen Passat instead, in view of the poverty in the municipality. The ANC declared that they plan to unseat the mayor as soon as possible.

## Main places

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

| Place | Code | Area $(km^2)$ | Population | Most spoken language |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Ikageng | 61801 | 76.64 | 61,847 | Tswana |
| Mohadin | 61802 | 2.75 | 12,079 | Tswana |
| Potchefstroom | 61803 | 46.19 | 26,723 | Afrikaans |
| Promosa | 61804 | 2.88 | 10,715 | Afrikaans |
| Remainder of the municipality | 61805 | 2,544.91 | 16,983 | Afrikaans |

## Rivers

* Ensel Spruit
* Kromdraai Spruit
* Loop Spruit
* Mooi River
* Rooikraal Spruit
* Vaal River

## Dams

* Boskop Dam
* Klipdrift Dam
* Modder Dam
* Poortjies Dam
* Potchefstroom Dam

## Politics

The municipal council consisted of fifty-two members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-six councillors were elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-six wards, while the remaining twenty-six were chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives was proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 18 May 2011 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of thirty seats in the council. The following table shows the results of the election.

| Party | Party | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes | Seats | Seats | Seats |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Party | Party | Ward | List | Total | % | Ward | List | Total |
| | ANC | 28,480 | 32,544 | 61,024 | 57.9 | 16 | 14 | 30 |
| | Democratic Alliance | 19,710 | 19,326 | 39,036 | 37.0 | 9 | 10 | 19 |
| | Freedom Front Plus | 1,508 | 1,374 | 2,882 | 2.7 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | COPE | 978 | 759 | 1,737 | 1.6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | ACDP | 319 | 168 | 487 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent Ratepayers Association of SA | 236 | 54 | 290 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 51,231 | 54,225 | 105,456 | 100.0 | 26 | 26 | 52 |
| Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | 2,323 | 660 | 2,983 |
