These figures come from Census 2022. District municipalities are excluded, because a district covers the same ground as the local municipalities within it and would double count residents.

Municipality Province Type Population Area km2 People per km2
City of Johannesburg Gauteng Metropolitan 4 803 262 1 643 2 923.5
Cape Town Western Cape Metropolitan 4 772 846 2 441 1 955.3
eThekwini KwaZulu-Natal Metropolitan 4 239 901 2 556 1 658.8
City of Ekurhuleni Gauteng Metropolitan 4 066 691 1 976 2 058.0
City of Tshwane Gauteng Metropolitan 4 040 315 6 298 641.5
Nelson Mandela Bay Eastern Cape Metropolitan 1 190 496 1 957 608.3
Buffalo City Eastern Cape Metropolitan 975 255 2 753 354.3
Emfuleni Gauteng Local 945 650 966 978.9
Polokwane Limpopo Local 843 459 5 054 166.9
City of Mbombela Mpumalanga Local 818 925 7 152 114.5
Msunduzi KwaZulu-Natal Local 817 725 751 1 088.8
Mangaung Free State Metropolitan 811 431 9 886 82.1
Bushbuckridge Mpumalanga Local 750 821 10 248 73.3
Nkomazi Mpumalanga Local 591 928 4 785 123.7
Tubatse Fetakgomo Limpopo Local 575 960 5 693 101.2
Thulamela Limpopo Local 575 929 2 642 218.0
Rustenburg North West Local 562 031 3 416 164.5
Madibeng North West Local 522 566 3 720 140.5
Newcastle KwaZulu-Natal Local 507 710 1 856 273.6
Makhado Limpopo Local 502 397 7 605 66.1

The smallest

Municipality Province Population Area km2
Khai-Ma Northern Cape 8 510 15 715
Renosterberg Northern Cape 10 843 5 529
Kareeberg Northern Cape 10 961 17 701
Laingsburg Western Cape 11 366 8 784
Karoo Hoogland Northern Cape 11 691 30 230
Kamiesberg Northern Cape 15 130 14 208
Ubuntu Northern Cape 15 836 20 393
Prince Albert Western Cape 17 836 8 153
Kgatelopele Northern Cape 19 854 2 478
!Kheis Northern Cape 21 954 11 102

The gap is striking: the largest municipality has more than 564 times the population of the smallest, while both carry the same core legal responsibilities for local government.

Figures on this page come from National Treasury, Statistics South Africa and the Auditor-General, as set out in the sources and methodology. Read the methodology