Matatiele Local Municipality

Matatiele, derived from the Sesotho for “the ducks have flown”, is a largely rural local municipality in the Alfred Nzo district, Eastern Cape. The main towns are Maluti, Cedarville and Matatiele, which is the seat of local government. These three main towns are surrounded by commercial farmland, which dominates the western part of the area. The municipality, which lies at the base of the Drakensberg Mountains, shares a border with Lesotho and the World Heritage Site while the R56 road running through it is a major trade route linking Matatiele with the KwaZulu-Natal province as well as the southern parts of the Eastern Cape. Matatiele’s main economic sectors are commerce and tourism.