Amathole District Municipality

The Amathole District Municipality (uMasipala weSithili sase Amathole) is one of the 7 districts of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat is East London. As of 2011, over 90% of its 892,637 inhabitants spoke isiXhosa. The district code is DC12. Amathole means "calves", the name of the mountain range and forest which forms the northern boundary of the district.

Government
The Executive Mayor of Amathole District Municipality since 2016 is Khanyile Maneli, the Deputy Mayor is Nomfusi Winnie Nxawe and the Municipal Manager is Thandekile Themba Mnyimba.

Neighbours
Amathole is surrounded by:
 * Chris Hani District (DC13) to the north
 * OR Tambo District (DC15) to the north-east
 * the Indian Ocean to the south-east
 * Sarah Baartman District (DC10) to west

Local municipalities
The district contains the following local municipalities:

Demographics
The following statistics are from the 2011 census.

Election results
Election results for Amathole in the South African general election, 2004.
 * Population 18 and over: 979,166 [58.83% of total population]
 * Total votes: 630,953 [37.91% of total population]
 * Voting % estimate: 64.44% votes as a % of population 18 and over

Maladministration
As of January 2024, the municipality is under administration, one of 32 in the country, and three in the Eastern Cape where the provincial executive has intervened due to maladministration