George Local Municipality

George Municipality (Afrikaans: George Munisipaliteit; Xhosa: uMasipala wase George) is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. As of 2011 the population is 193,672.[3] Its municipality code is WC044.

George
Local municipality
Seal
Location of George Local Municipality within the Western Cape
Coordinates: 33°45′S 22°50′E
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceWestern Cape
DistrictGarden Route
SeatGeorge
Wards27
Government
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorLeon van Wyk[2] (DA)
Area
 • Total5,191 km2 (2,004 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[3]
 • Total193,672
 • Density37/km2 (97/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African28.2%
 • Coloured50.4%
 • Indian/Asian0.5%
 • White19.7%
First languages (2011)
 • Afrikaans67.2%
 • Xhosa21.6%
 • English8.1%
 • Other3.1%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeWC044

Geography

The municipality covers an area of 5,191 square kilometres (2,004 sq mi) in the Garden Route and Little Karoo regions. It includes the coastal plateau around the city of George, and extends northeast over the Outeniqua Mountains to include the eastern end of the Little Karoo as far as the Swartberg mountains and the boundary with the Eastern Cape province. It abuts on the Mossel Bay Municipality to the west, the Oudtshoorn Municipality to the northwest, the Baviaans Municipality to the northeast, the Kou-Kamma Municipality to the east, and the Bitou and Knysna Municipalities to the southeast.

According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 193,672 people in 53,551 households. Of this population, 50.4% describe themselves as "Coloured", 28.2% as "Black African", and 19.7% as "White". The first language of 67.2% of the population is Afrikaans, while 21.7% speak Xhosa and 8.1% speak English.[5]

The majority of the residents of the municipality are in the city of George, which as of 2011 has a population of 157,394.[6] Close to George are the coastal resorts of Herolds Bay (pop. 704) and Wilderness (pop. 6,164). Haarlem (pop. 2,376) and Uniondale (pop. 4,525) are in the interior of the municipality at the top of the Langkloof.

Politics

The municipal council consists of fifty-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-seven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-seven wards, while the remaining twenty-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 3 August 2016 the Democratic Alliance (DA) won a majority of twenty-nine seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.[7][8][9]

PartyVotesSeats
WardListTotal%WardListTotal
Democratic Alliance 33,09833,32166,41955.4%181129
ANC 17,63317,34834,98129.2%9716
Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners 1,9832,0244,0073.3%022
Economic Freedom Fighters 1,5141,4852,9992.5%011
Independent Civic Organisation 1,4831,5052,9882.5%011
Freedom Front Plus 1,0299551,9841.7%011
ACDP 8777821,6591.4%011
African Independent Congress 6938501,5431.3%011
South Africa Civics 7247551,4791.2%011
Christian Democrats 1882083960.3%000
Independent 394–3940.3%0–0
Democratic New Civic Association 1562113670.3%000
South African Religious Civic Organisation 1341382720.2%000
George Independent Ratepayers Forum 93921850.2%000
Christian United Movement S.A. 3057870.1%000
Ubuntu Party 345480.0%000
Total 60,03259,776119,808272653
Valid votes 60,03259,776119,80898.6%
Spoilt votes 8239041,7271.4
Total votes cast 60,85560,680121,535
Voter turnout 61,056
Registered voters 100,886
Turnout percentage 60.5%

The DA subsequently lost one seat to the African National Congress (ANC) in a by-election on 1 February 2017.[10] The council was reconfigured as seen below:

Party WardPR listTotal
Democratic Alliance 171128
ANC 10717
Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners 022
ACDP 011
African Independent Congress 011
Economic Freedom Fighters 011
Freedom Front Plus 011
Independent Civic Organisation 011
South Africa Civics 011
Total 272653

The local council sends six representatives to the council of the Garden Route District Municipality. As of February 2017 this delegation consisted of three councillors from the Democratic Alliance, two from the African National Congress and one from the African Independent Congress.[11]

References
  1. "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. Pienaar, Michelle (22 May 2020). "Drumroll for the new George mayor". Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  3. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  4. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  5. "George Local Municipality". Census 2011.
  6. Sum of the Main Places George and Thembalethu from Census 2011.
  7. "Results Summary – All Ballots: George" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  8. "Seat Calculation Detail: George" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  9. "Voter Turnout Report: George" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  10. "By-elections 1 February 2017 Comparison Report" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  11. "Political composition of councils February 2017" (PDF). Western Cape Department of Local Government. February 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.