# Mopani District Municipality

The Mopani District Municipality (Northern Sotho: Mmasepala wa Selete wa Mopani; Tsonga: Masipala wa Xifundza xa Mopani) is one of the 5 districts of the Limpopo province of South Africa. The seat of the district is Giyani. According to the 2016 Community Survey, it had a population of 1,159,185. The district code is DC33. After the 12th amendment to the Constitution of South Africa, parts of the Bohlabela District Municipality were incorporated into Mopani.

## Geography
### Neighbours

Mopani is surrounded by:
* the republic of Mozambique to the east
* Ehlanzeni (DC32) to the south
* Sekhukhune (DC35) to the south-west
* Capricorn (DC35) to the west
* Vhembe (DC34) to the north

### Local municipalities

The district contains the following local municipalities:
| Name | Code | Seat | Area (km$^2$) | Population (2016) | Dominant language |
| Ba-Phalaborwa | LIM334 | Phalaborwa | 7,489 | 168,937 | Tsonga |
| Greater Giyani | LIM331 | Giyani | 4,172 | 256,127 | Tsonga |
| Greater Letaba | LIM332 | Modjadjiskloof | 1,891 | 218,030 | Pedi |
| Greater Tzaneen | LIM333 | Tzaneen | 2,897 | 416,146 | Pedi, Tsonga |
| Maruleng | LIM335 | Hoedspruit | 3,563 | 99,946 | Pedi |

## Demographics

The following statistics are from the Community Survey 2016.
| Language | Population | % |
| Northern Sotho | 537,240 | 46.35% |
| Tsonga | 518,462 | 44.73% |
| Sotho | 30,646 | 2.64% |
| Afrikaans | 19,370 | 1.67% |
| English | 8,349 | 0.72% |
| Venda | 4,397 | 0.38% |
| Zulu | 2,029 | 0.18% |
| Swati | 1,759 | 0.15% |
| Xhosa | 1,588 | 0.14% |
| Tswana | 881 | 0.08% |
| Khoi, Nama and San | 729 | 0.06% |
| Ndebele | 247 | 0.02% |
| Sign | 160 | 0.01% |
| Other | 7,984 | 0.69% |
| Not applicable | 25,236 | 2.18% |
| Not specified | 108 | 0.01% |

### Gender

| Gender | Population | % |
| Female | 619,612 | 53.45% |
| Male | 539,574 | 46.55% |

### Ethnic group

| Ethnic group | Population | % |
| Black African | 1,130,512 | 97.53% |
| White | 23,628 | 2.04% |
| Indian/Asian | 2,918 | 0.25% |
| Coloured | 2.128 | 0.18% |

### Age

| Age | Population | % |
| 0–4 | 136,331 | 11.76% |
| 5–9 | 123,453 | 10.65% |
| 10–14 | 105,887 | 9.13% |
| 15–19 | 136,808 | 11.80% |
| 20–24 | 120,118 | 10.36% |
| 25–29 | 108,807 | 9.39% |
| 30–34 | 88,778 | 7.66% |
| 35–39 | 68,927 | 5.95% |
| 40–44 | 59,369 | 5.12% |
| 45–49 | 51,785 | 4.47% |
| 50–54 | 42,471 | 3.66% |
| 55–59 | 34,768 | 3.00% |
| 60–64 | 28,875 | 2.49% |
| 65–69 | 18,832 | 1.62% |
| 70–74 | 14,444 | 1.25% |
| 75–79 | 9,147 | 0.79% |
| 80–84 | 4,676 | 0.40% |
| 85– | 5,711 | 0.49% |

## Politics
### Election results

The following results are for the direct proportional representation election of members of the Mopani District Council on 3 August 2016.
| Party | Party | Votes | % |
| | ANC | 212,085 | 74.74% |
| | EFF | 35,590 | 12.54% |
| | DA | 19,965 | 7.04% |
| | APC | 4,036 | 1.42% |
| | COPE | 3,212 | 1.13% |
| | Civic Warriors of Maruleng | 2,907 | 1.02% |
| | ACDP | 1,339 | 0.47% |
| | Ximoko Party | 1,289 | 0.45% |
| | National Independent Party | 1,256 | 0.44% |
| | VF+ | 868 | 0.31% |
| | UDM | 721 | 0.25% |
| | PAC | 509 | 0.18% |
| Total | Total | 283,777 | |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 283,777 | 98.52% |
| Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | 4,254 | 1.48% |
| Total votes cast | Total votes cast | 288,031 | |