Municipality: Tlokwe City Council

Potchefstroom covers an area of approximately 2500 square km and is divided into two. In 2007 the local municipality was changed from Potchefstroom Municipality to Tlokwe Municipality. The municipality, which encompasses several neighbouring settlements, has a population of 128,357, according to the 2007 community survey. Of these, 69.6% were African, 27.0% White, 3.0% Coloured and 0.4% Asian. If the population under 18 is added, the population figures should be closer to 200 000 in 2011.

 Potchefstroom is home to, inter alia, five tertiary institutions and 30 schools, as well as numerous research bureaus and training centres.

The town of Potchefstroom is an important industrial, service and agricultural growth point of North West Province. Industries include steel, food processing and chemical. The chicken industry is of key importance with a number of major players situated around Potchefstroom such as Chubby Chick, Serfontein Poultry, Haagner's Poultry, Crown Chicken and Highveld Egg Cooperation.

In terms of sectoral employment, the largest sector is government (32%), followed by the trade sector (15%), household sector (13%), the agricultural and manufacturing sectors (10% each) and the financial sector (7%). Therefore, 87% of employment opportunities are provided by these sectors, with the primary (agricultural) and secondary (manufacturing) sectors contributing 20% and the tertiary and service sectors contributing 67%.

Source: IDP 2011/12