The municipality is bordered by Phumelela in the north, the Kingdom of Lesotho in the south, the KwaZulu-Natal Province in the east, and Dihlabeng in the west. It is one of the six municipalities that make up the district. Maluti-A-Phofung Municipality was established on 5 December 2000 in terms of the Provincial Gazette No. 14 of 28 February 2000, issued in terms of Section 21 of the Local Government Notice and Municipal Demarcation Act 27 of 1998.