Districts of South Africa

district, Zulu: isifunda; Xhosa: isithili; Afrikaans: distrikte; Northern Sotho: selete; Tswana: kgaolo; Sotho: setereke; Tsonga: xifundza; Swazi: sigodzi; Venda: tshiṱiriki; Southern Ndebele: isiyingi), which are either metropolitan or district municipalities.

As a consequence of the 12th amendment of the Constitution in December 2005, which altered provincial boundaries, the number of districts was reduced from 53.

[citation needed] District municipalities are seen as successors to former Regional Services Councils (RSC).

This usually occurred in areas with a very low population density, for example national parks and nature reserves.

[6] These include: South Africa's official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, believes that the districts add an unnecessary fourth layer of government (between provinces and municipalities) and has called for them to be eliminated.