Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality which governs Bloemfontein and surrounding towns in the Free State province of South Africa. Mangaung is a Sesotho name meaning "place of Cheetahs". Legend has it that when the first settlers arrived, they were stunned by the vast plains that were roamed freely by cheetahs. Before the municipal elections of 18 May 2011 Mangaung was a local municipality under the Motheo District Municipality. In the election, the ANC won 58 out of 100 seats on the Metro Council, while the Democratic Alliance won 26 seats and COPE won 2 seats.