Northwest (South Africa)

Noordwes North West Bokone Bophirima northwest
Symbols
coat of arms
Basic data
Country	South Africa
Capital	Mahikeng
surface	104,882 km²
Residents	3,509,953 (2011)
density	33 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2	ZA-NW
Website	www.nwpg.gov.za (English)
politics
prime minister	Job Mokgoro
Political party	ANC

Coordinates: 25 ° 52 ′  S , 25 ° 38 ′  E

Northwest (English: North West , Afrikaans : Noordwes , Setswana : Bokone Bophirima ) is a province of South Africa that borders Botswana . It has around 3.5 million inhabitants. Parts of the Kalahari region are in the Northwest Province. It was formed in 1994 from parts of the former Cape Province and Transvaal provinces as well as most of the homeland of Bophuthatswana .

Districts

Northwest with its districts (2016)

The territorial structure of the Northwest Province consists of four districts with 18 local parishes:

	District	Local parishes
1.	Bojanala Platinum	Moretele , Madibeng , Rustenburg , Kgetlengrivier and Moses Kotane
2.	Ngaka Modiri Molema	Ratlou , Tswaing , Mahikeng , Ditsobotla and Ramotshere Moiloa
3.	Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati	Kagisano-Molopo , Naledi , Mamusa , Greater Taung and Lekwa-Teemane
4th	Dr Kenneth Kaunda	JB Marks , City of Matlosana and Maquassi Hills

Cities (selection)

• Brits
• Klerksdorp
• Mahikeng
• Potchefstroom
• Rustenburg
• Sun City
• Taung

history

The first prime minister from 1994 to 2004 was Popo Molefe (ANC).

Population and languages

Distribution of languages ​​in the north-west (2001 census):

Afrikaans

English

South Ndebele

isiXhosa

isiZulu

North Sotho

Sesotho

Setswana

Xitsonga

no dominant language

According to the results of the 2011 census, 89.8% of the population belonged to the black population group, 7.3% to the whites, 2.0% to the coloreds ( afrikaans : Kleurlinge , literally "colored") and 0.6% to the Indians and Asians .

Setswana stated 63.4% of the population as their mother tongue, Afrikaans 9.0%, Sesotho 5.8%, isiXhosa 5.5%, Xitsonga 3.7%.

Population development

The following overview shows the population by area since the 1996 census.

year	population
1996 (census)	2,727,223
2001 (census)	2,984,098
2011 (census)	3,509,953
2018 (estimate)	3,979,000

See also : Demography of South Africa

politics

Distribution of seats in the provincial parliament from the northwest:

ANC (21

EFF (6)

DA (4)

VF + (2)

In the 2019 elections to the Provincial Legislature , the ANC remained the strongest party in the Northwest Province despite losses. The mandates were distributed as follows.

Political party	Seats	+/-
African National Congress (ANC)	21st	-2
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)	6th	+1
Democratic Alliance (DA)	4th	± 0
Vryheidsfront Plus (VF +)	2	+1
total	33

In May 2018, Prime Minister Supra Mahumapelo was suspended after violent protests; the province was placed under direct state administration. A little later Mahumapelo resigned. Job Mokgoro was sworn in as his successor on June 22, 2018 .

Attractions

Parks and nature reserves

Barberspan Bird Sanctuary Bloemhof Dam Nature Reserve Borakalalo National Park Boskop Dam Nature Reserve in Tlokwe / Ventersdorp Botsalano game reserve Diepsloot Nature Reserve Faan Meintjies Nature Reserve Hartbeespoort reservoir Kgaswane Mountain Reserve (formerly Rustenburg Nature Reserve) Leon Taljaardt Nature Reserve Lichtenburg Game Breeding Center Mafikeng Game Reserve Madikwe game reserve

Marico-Bosveld Nature Reserve Molemane Eye Nature Reserve Molopo Nature Reserve Mountain Sanctuary Park Oog van Malmanie Nature Reserve Pienaar Nature Reserve Pilanesberg National Park Rob Ferreira Nature Reserve Rust De Winter Nature Reserve SA Lombard Nature Reserve Schoonspruit Nature Reserve Vaalkop Dam Nature Reserve Wolwespruit Nature Reserve

A major attraction in the province is the Sun City amusement center in the immediate vicinity of the Pilanesberg.

Web links

Commons : North West (South Africa)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bokone Bophirima Province , website of the provincial administration at www.nwpg.gov.za (English)
• Provincial tourism website. on www.nwpg.gov.za (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistics South Africa : Census 2011, Census in brief . online at www.statssa.gov.za (English, PDF file; 2.8 MB), PDF document p. 23, doc. p. 18.
2. ^ Local Government Handbook. South Africa: North West Municipalities . at www.municipalities.co.za (English).
3. ↑ Statistics South Africa (Ed.): Census 2011: Census in brief . Pretoria 2012, ISBN 978-0-621-41388-5 ( gov.za [PDF]).
4. ↑ South Africa: Provinces and Major Settlements - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather, and Web Information. Retrieved January 7, 2019 . 
5. ^ South Africa's North West premier to take leave of absence. bloomberg.com from May 9, 2018 (English), accessed May 9, 2018
6. ^ South Africa direct rule for North West province. bbc.com dated May 13, 2018 (English), accessed on May 13, 2018
7. ↑ Supra Mahumapelo may be retired now but the future of North West is silent uncertain. Daily Maverick, May 24, 2018, accessed May 27, 2018
8. ↑ This is for Madiba, says new premier. Mail & Guardian dated June 22, 2018, accessed June 22, 2018