Polokwane noted at one of top 10 biggest populous cities in country

POLOKWANE – The population of Capricorn District has reached 1.4m, having gone up by over 186 000 since the 2011 census and Polokwane is in the top 10 of the biggest cities in the country in terms of population size.

This was announced by Stats SA provincial executive manager Nthambeleni Mukwevho when he handed over the latest statistics to Capricorn District Municipality (CDM) Mayor Mamedupi Teffo on Friday.

Men account for 47% while women account for 52%. He highlighted that the population of Molemole did not grow significantly (by only 624 people) since 2011 with an average of three persons per household. He added that Limpopo is home to a total of 170 000 foreign nationals.

In terms of service delivery, Mukwevho announced that 20% of the population has no access to piped water in Limpopo, while only 4% has no refuse removal in Capricorn District.

The municipality was represented by Teffo, MMC for LED Calvin Masoga, chief whip Chuene Malebana and municipal manager Ramakuntwane Selepe while Stats SA was represented by Mukwevho, the director of statistics support and coordination, Yvonne Mashele and district manager Gilbert Mabunda.

Teffo welcomed the results, emphasising that it would guide the municipality in the allocation of resources, “help us note areas of improvement in service delivery as a tool for us to plan better in comparison with other districts”.

She noted that an increase in population leads to an increase in the demand for access to services and the municipality can only meet the growing demand if people pay for the services they receive.

“We must now channel the resources to address water supply issues as the results show some regression, particularly in new extensions,” she said, adding that the results came at an opportune time as “we are embarking on IDP consultations to plan for the next financial year”.