# Waterberg District Municipality

The Waterberg District Municipality (Northern Sotho: Mmasepala wa Selete wa Waterberg; Tswana: Mmasepala wa Sedika wa Waterberg) is one of the 5 districts of the Limpopo province of South Africa. The seat is Modimolle. As of 2016, the majority of its 745,758 residents spoke Sepedi, also known as Northern Sotho. The district code is DC36.

## Geography

The municipality contains much of the Waterberg Biosphere, a UNESCO designated Biosphere Reserve. The Waterberg Biosphere is a massif of approximately 654,033 hectare. Waterberg is the first region in the northern part of South Africa to be named as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. The extensive rock formation was shaped by hundreds of millions of years of riverine erosion to yield diverse bluff and butte landform. The ecosystem can be characterised as a dry deciduous forest or Bushveld. Within the Waterberg there are archaeological finds dating to the Stone Age, and nearby are early evolutionary finds related to the origin of humans.
The following sets forth neighboring municipalities and principal municipalities within the Waterberg District Municipality:

### Neighbours

Waterberg is surrounded (clockwise) by:
* Vhembe (DC34) to the north-east
* Capricorn (DC35) to the east
* Sekhukhune (CBDC3) to the south-east
* Nkangala (DC31) to the south-east
* Bojanala Platinum (DC37) to the south
* Ngaka Modiri Molema (DC38) to the south-west
* City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality to the south
* the Kgatleng District of the republic of Botswana to the west

### Local municipalities

The district contains the following local municipalities:
| Local municipality | Population | % | Dominant language |
| Mogalakwena | 325 291 | 43.62% | Sepedi (Northern Sotho) |
| Lephalale | 140 240 | 18.81% | Sepedi (Northern Sotho) |
| Modimolle–Mookgophong | 107 699 | 14.44% | Sepedi (Northern Sotho) |
| Thabazimbi | 96 232 | 12.90 | Setswana |
| Bela-Bela | 76 296 | 10.23 | Sepedi (Northern Sotho) |
Source: Statistics South Africa, Community Survey 2016

## Demographics

The following statistics are from the 2016 Community Survey
| Language | Population | % |
| Sepedi (Northern Sotho) | 450 575 | 60.42 |
| Setswana | 91 750 | 12.30 |
| Xitsonga | 47 738 | 6.40 |
| Afrikaans | 57 832 | 7.75 |
| Isindebele | 15 672 | 2.10 |
| Sesotho | 14 791 | 1.98 |
| Isixhosa | 11 763 | 1.58 |
| English | 7 690 | 1.03 |
| Tshivenda | 7 021 | 0.94 |
| Isizulu | 4 284 | 0.57 |
| Siswati | 1372 | 0.18 |

### Gender

| Gender | Population | % |
| Female | 364 265 | 48.84% |
| Male | 381 493 | 51.16% |

### Ethnic group

| Ethnic group | Population | % |
| Black African | 680 815 | 91.29 |
| White | 59 998 | 8.05 |
| Coloured | 2 272 | 0.30 |
| Indian/Asian | 2 673 | 0.36 |

### Age

| Age | Population | % |
| 000 - 004 | 98 391 | 13.19 % |
| 005 - 009 | 84 122 | 11.28 % |
| 010 - 014 | 74 195 | 9.95 % |
| 015 - 019 | 64 258 | 8.62 % |
| 020 - 024 | 66 169 | 8.87 % |
| 025 - 029 | 70 743 | 9.49 % |
| 030 - 034 | 57 856 | 7.76 % |
| 035 - 039 | 45 331 | 6.08 % |
| 040 - 044 | 38 129 | 5.11 % |
| 045 - 049 | 34 767 | 4.66 % |
| 050 - 054 | 29 852 | 4.00 % |
| 055 - 059 | 24 442 | 3.28 % |
| 060 - 064 | 19 397 | 2.6 % |
| 065 - 069 | 13 120 | 1.76 % |
| 070 - 074 | 10 651 | 1.43 % |
| 075 - 079 | 7 386 | 0.99 % |
| 080 - 084 | 3 783 | 0.51 % |
| 085 + | 3 167 | 0.42 % |

## Politics
### Election results

Election results for Waterberg in the South African Municipal election, 2016
| Party | Votes | % |
| African National Congress | 95 383 | 57.87 % |
| Democratic Alliance | 26 791 | 16.26 % |
| Freedom Front Plus | 4 403 | 2.67 % |
| United Christian Democratic Party | 357 | 0.22 % |
| Pan African Congress | 370 | 0.22 % |
| Congress of The People | 1467 | 0.89 % |
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 32 578 | 19.77 % |
| Mogalakwena Residents | 1 253 | 0.76 % |
| South African Christian | 308 | 0.19 % |
| Thabazimbi Residents | 1900 | 1.15 % |
| Total | 0 | 100.00% |