The Fezile Dabi District Municipality (DC20) – then known as the Northern Free State District Municipality -was established in terms of the Municipal Structures Act (117 of 1998) and proclaimed in the Provincial Gazette, Notice No 184, on 28 September 2000. The Fezile Dabi District Municipality area is approximately 240,190 square kilometers in extent and makes up about 27% of the total area of the Free State Province. The area of jurisdiction of Fezile Dabi covers four local municipalities, namely;

Metsimaholo

The Metsimaholo Local Municipality includes the towns of Sasolburg, Oranjeville and Deneysville. It covers 8.1% of the area of the District, has 32.2% of the population and produces 68.1% of the GDP in the District. The main economic contribution in this municipality comes from the manufacturing sector and it is closely related to the performance of Sasol industries. Extensive areas have rich underground coal deposits. Large quantities are mined in the Sasolburg district by means of conventional and strip mining methods. The private sector contribution is the dominating economic segment only in the Metsimaholo Local Municipality.

Moqhaka

The towns of Kroonstad, Steynsrus and Viljoenskroon constitute the Moqhaka Local Municipality. Moqhaka has 36.5% of the population, and has the second highest GDP contribution in the District (20.5%). The main economic contribution in this municipality comes from the Government Service sector. The re-exploitation of the Lacemyn diamond mine in the vicinity of Kroonstad is currently taking place and gold is mined at the Vaal Reefs Mine, part of the Witwatersrand gold reef, in the Viljoenskroon area.

Ngwathe

Ngwathe with 20.1% of the district population is the second largest in the in terms of area in the district and has the third largest economic contribution (9.4% of the District‟s GDP). The main economic contribution in this municipality comes from the Community services sector. The municipal areas includes; the towns of Parys, Vredefort, Heilbron, Koppies and Edenville.

Mafube

The municipal area includes the towns of Frankfort (municipal head office), Villiers, Cornelia and Tweeling. Mafube covers just over 12.5% of the area of the municipality with 12.5% of the population. It contributes 4% of the GDP in the District. The main economic contribution in this municipality is the Government Services sector and Agriculture.