Mantsopa
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Free State
Country	South Africa
Province	Free State
District	Thabo Mofutsanyane
Seat	Ladybrand
Wards	9
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Mamsie Tsoene (ANC)
Area
• Total	4,291 km2 (1,657 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	51,056
• Density	12/km2 (31/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	88.4%
• Coloured	3.9%
• Indian/Asian	0.6%
• White	6.6%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Sotho	82.1%
• Afrikaans	9.8%
• English	4.1%
• Sign language	1.4%
• Other	2.6%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	FS196

Mantsopa Municipality (Sotho: Masepala wa Mantsopa) is a local municipality within the Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality, in the Free State province of South Africa.

Origin of the name

Basotho prophet 'Mantsopa Makhetha^[4] was a cousin to King Moshoeshoe I, who banished her from the Kingdom when he suspected that her powers were greater than his. When she arrived at Modderpoort there were no houses and, according to legend, she stayed in a cave. In 1886 a group of men called The Brotherhood of St Augustine arrived at Modderpoort, and 'Mantsopa accommodated them in her cave. The missionaries decided to stay and they turned the cave into a chapel. 'Mantsopa later joined the church and was baptised and given the name Anna. 'Mantsopa's grave continues to be visited and offerings are still placed on or near it.^[5]

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:^[6]

Politics

The municipal council consists of eighteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Nine councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in nine 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 election of 1 November 2021 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of eleven seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the election.^[7]