Molemole Local Municipality is located in the North Eastern side of Polokwane (Limpopo Province). It is one of the five local municipalities that falls under Capricorn District which are Molemole, Aganang, Blouberg, Polokwane and Lepelle-Nkumpi. N1 road which links Molemole(Limpopo Province) to Zimbabwe passes through Machaka corridor. The Municipality consists of 13 wards.

According to census information (2001) of statistics South Africa, Molemole has a total population of 109.423 persons, with as average household size3,9 and a total of 27 889 households. However Molemole Local Municipality undertook a survey with which estimate the population to be 107, 620 people in 2007.

The majority of the population, about 52,7%, in Molemole Municipality comprise of children under the age of 20 and 6,6% is made up of the elderly.

The male/female ratio according to census 2001 is 1:36 which indicate a high male absenteeism. This suggests that a significant number are working in other provinces such as Gauteng. This means that a significant proportion of the population is dependent on the income generated by others. About 54,6% of the total population are unemployed, according to census 201. It is evident from Molemole survey 2007 that 46% of the households in Molemole receive less that R1100 income per month. It follows therefore that almost half of the total households in the municipality quality for municipal indigent services discounts, that is, free basic service.

The municipality is also faced with severe financial constraints to be able to deliver on essential services. About 76% of the populations have access to water and infrastructure for water provision within at least 200 meters from the dwelling units. The lack of reliable water source within Molemole makes it difficult to provide water on a sustainable basis. The municipality relies entirely in ground water for its water supply for primary and agricultural use. Only 20% of the households have access to access to acceptable levels of sanitation or at least a VIP toilet on site. About 83% of the household do not have access to refuse removal. The majority of Molemole Municipality population, about 75%, uses electricity as a form of energy. A fairly large part of Molemole Municipality has been subjected to land claims. About 833 square kilometers of land is under claim, constituting 25% of the municipal area land development and Land Use Management is hindered by the different types of legislation used in different areas and town/settlements.

The municipality has a high potential in economic development especially agricultural development in Mogwadi (tomatoes and potatoes), game farming, forestry (Morebeng) mineral scanning, tourism (along N1 corridor and Tropic of Capricorn needle).

The new developmental role for municipalities encompasses a much more strategic, innovative, and multi-sectoral involvement in infrastructure, economic and social development. When Molemole's IDP was first adopted in 2002 less than 20% of the population had access to water, 5% had access to sanitation, no roads were regravelled, 30% were employed and we had 1 health centre. The previous council worked tirelessly to bring basic services to our people. Today 65% of our population have access to water at above RDP level, 20% have access sanitation, regravelled, 35km, 45% are employed, 70% have electricity and we have 1 hospital, 6 clinics and 2 mobile clinics.

It is the objective of the new council to provide affordable and clean potable water to 90% of the population by 2009, to also provide 55% of the population with access to sanitation, to tar 5 access roads, however prioritize the following: road between Eisleben and Mokomene, Mohodi - Matipane road N1 and Makgato, to reduce unemployment by 10% on yearly basis. It is our wish to build 1 health centre and 6 clinics by 2011 and also intend to build 2 police stations.

One of our objectives is to strive for good financial management, revenue collection, increase infrastructure tax base and improve the local economic development. The Municipality has embarked on a road to implement the Employment Equity Act targets, skills development plan, and recruitment plan which is fair, just and transparent. Projects are undertaken in line with the objectives and the agreed strategies, within the resources frames (financial and institutional) and within legal requirement. It is thus important to link IDP, budget and implementation. The municipality has also adopted and integrated monitoring and Performance Management System, which has as its premise the integrated development planning and espouses performance indicators .This system, is based on projects related indicators, output targets and activity-related milestone.

The constitution of South Africa, 1996, puts into place a new dispensation, recognizing government as comprising of 3 distinctive spheres, namely the national, provincial and local spheres. Each of the three spheres of government has specified roles, powers and functions. Local government, in the form of municipalities, is a key role player in the development process of the country. Municipalities use integrated development planning as one of the key tools in enabling them to cope with their new developmental role. Integrated development planning is a core function of municipalities, which will culminate in decision on issues such as poverty eradication, municipal budgets, land management, local economic development, job creation and the promotion of reconstruction and development in a strategic manner.

The IDP is compiled in terms of section 36 of the municipal systems act (32 of 2000), through which a municipality prepares and adopts a five year strategic development plan, highlighting the short, medium and long term goals. The IDP process requires a development of a vision through an assessment of current realities through a combination of the PEST and a SWOT analysis. The benefit of integrated development planning lies in the formulation of focused plans based on the development priorities and intervention, which aims at maximizing the impact of scarce resources.