Waterberg District Municipality
The Waterberg District Municipality 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. The area is adminstred by tribal tribal communities, it consists of 12 traditional leaders in the district: Babirwa, Lebelo Kgomo, Seleka, Lekalakala, Mokopane(Kekana), Mapela, Litho, Ledwaba, Shongoane, Bakone, Tauetsoala & Langa.Bakenburg.
Geography
The municipality contains much of the Waterberg Biosphere, a UNESCO desLanga, Mapela, Bakoneignated Biosphere Reserve. The Waterberg Biosphere is a massif of approximately. 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 by:- Vhembe to the north-east
- Capricorn to the east
- Sekhukhune to the south-east
- Nkangala to the south-east
- Bojanala Platinum to the south
- Ngaka Modiri Molema 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 |
| Lephalale | 140 240 | 18.81% | Sepedi |
| Modimolle–Mookgophong | 107 699 | 14.44% | Sepedi |
| Thabazimbi | 96 232 | 12.90 | Setswana |
| Bela-Bela | 76 296 | 10.23 | Sepedi |
Source: Statistics South Africa, Community Survey 2015
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 |
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% |