Bitou Local Municipality

Bitou Local Municipality (Afrikaans: Bitou Munisipaliteit; Xhosa: uMasipala wase Bitou, formerly known as Plettenberg Bay Municipality) is a municipality part of Garden Route District Municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Its municipality code is WC047.

Bitou

Plett
Local municipality
Seal
Location of Bitou Local Municipality within the Western Cape
Coordinates: 33°55′S 23°25′E
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceWestern Cape
DistrictGarden Route
SeatPlettenberg Bay
Wards7
Government
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorPeter Lobese (AUF)
Area
 • Total992 km2 (383 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total49,162
 • Density50/km2 (130/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African45.2%
 • Coloured31.2%
 • Indian/Asian0.5%
 • White16.9%
First languages (2011)
 • Afrikaans43.4%
 • Xhosa38.0%
 • English13.3%
 • Other5.3%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeWC047

Geography

The municipality covers an area of 992 square kilometres (383 sq mi) between the Indian Ocean and the Tsitsikamma Mountains around the town of Plettenberg Bay. It is the easternmost municipality on the coast of the Western Cape, with its eastern edge at the Bloukrans River forming the border with the Eastern Cape. It abuts on the Knysna Municipality to the west, the George Municipality to the northwest, and the Kou-Kamma Municipality to the east.

According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 49,162 people in 16,645 households. Of this population, 45.2% describe themselves as "Black African", 31.2% as "Coloured", and 16.9% as "White". The first language of 43.4% of the population is Afrikaans, while 38.0% speak Xhosa and 13.3% speak English.[4]

A majority of residents of the municipality live in the town of Plettenberg Bay, which in 2011 had a population of 31,804.[5] On the other side of the Keurbooms River mouth from Plettenberg Bay is the coastal resort of Keurboomstrand (pop. 475), while the resort of Nature's Valley (pop. 460) is situated further east at the mouth of the Groot River. The Griqua settlement of Kranshoek (pop. 5,597) is situated west of Plettenberg Bay. In the interior of the municipality are villages at Kurland (pop. 4,033) and Wittedrif (pop. 1,822).

Politics

The municipal council consists of thirteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Seven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in seven wards, while the remaining six are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 18 May 2011 no party obtained a majority; the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the African National Congress (ANC) won six seats each, with the remaining seat going to the Congress of the People (COPE). The DA and COPE formed a coalition to govern the municipality.[6]

The DA won a ward from the ANC in a by-election held in 2014, and governed Bitou alone with an outright majority of seats on the council.[7]

A hung council was elected following the 2016 municipal elections, with the DA and ANC each winning six seats, and the final seat going to the Active United Front (AUF). The AUF chose to join forces with the ANC. However, six months later, in April 2017, the AUF announced that the partnership had fallen apart because the ANC had frustrated attempts to establish clean administration, had failed to commit resources to address problems, had not implemented the coalition agreement, and had not signed the agreed-upon service delivery plan. The DA and AUF negotiated for a month, following which the DA gained control of the municipality.[8]

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.[9][10][11]

PartyVotesSeats
WardListTotal%WardListTotal
Democratic Alliance 9,1419,14118,28248.6%426
ANC 7,7467,67315,41941.0%336
Active United Front 1,0269892,0155.4%011
Economic Freedom Fighters 3533386911.8%000
ACDP 2052104151.1%000
African Independent Congress 1482634111.1%000
Congress of the People 93871800.5%000
Bitou Independent Party 51621130.3%000
UDM 1941600.2%000
Democratic New Civic Association 1611270.1%000
Independent Civic Organisation 98170.0%000
Total 18,80718,82337,6307613
Valid votes 18,80718,82337,63099.0%
Spoilt votes 1811953761.0%
Total votes cast 18,98819,01838,006
Voter turnout 19,039
Registered voters 27,867
Turnout percentage 68.3%

The local council sends two representatives to the council of the Garden Route District Municipality. As of February 2017 this delegation consisted of one councillor from the Democratic Alliance and one from the African National Congress.[12]

References
  1. "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  4. "Bitou Local Municipality". Census 2011.
  5. Sum of the Main Places Bossiesgerf, New Horizons, Kwanokuthula and Plettenberg Bay from Census 2011.
  6. "Political composition of councils" (PDF). Western Cape Department of Local Government. August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  7. "'Important' win for DA in Plett by-election". Independent Online. Retrieved 2017-05-13.
  8. "ANC booted in Bitou municipality, DA takes over". The Citizen. 2017-05-13. Retrieved 2017-05-13.
  9. "Results Summary – All Ballots: Bitou" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  10. "Seat Calculation Detail: Bitou" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  11. "Voter Turnout Report: Bitou" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  12. "Political composition of councils February 2017" (PDF). Western Cape Department of Local Government. February 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
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