Makana Local Municipality

Makana Local Municipality is the local municipality which governs the town of Makhanda/Grahamstown and surrounding areas in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It forms part of the Sarah Baartman District Municipality. The municipality is named after a Xhosa prophet, Makana.[3]

Makana
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Eastern Cape
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceEastern Cape
DistrictSarah Baartman
SeatMakhanda
Wards14
Government
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorVacant
 • SpeakerVacant
 • Chief WhipVacant
Area
 • Total4,376 km2 (1,690 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total80,390
 • Density18/km2 (48/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • African78.0%
 • Coloured12.1%
 • Indian/Asian0.7%
 • White8.7%
First languages (2011)
 • Xhosa71.5%
 • Afrikaans14.8%
 • English10.5%
 • Other3.2%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeEC104

Main places

The 2011 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[4]

PlaceCodePopulationArea (km2)Most spoken language
Alicedale2640051,9323.9Afrikaans
Makhanda26400450,21762.7Xhosa
KwaNonzwakazi2640061,9400.8Xhosa
Rhini26400317,0472.4Xhosa
Riebeek East26400175322.5Xhosa
Sidbury2640071157.9Xhosa
Non-urban areas2640028,3864,275.5Xhosa
Total80,3904,375.6Xhosa

Politics

The municipal council consists of twenty-seven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Fourteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in fourteen wards, while the remaining thirteen 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 African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of seventeen seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.[5][6]

PartyVotesSeats
WardListTotal%WardListTotal
ANC 14,08715,07829,16561.811617
Democratic Alliance 6,9117,13414,04529.8358
Economic Freedom Fighters 1,1271,3822,5095.3022
Independent 898–8981.90–0
Azanian People's Organisation 1422083500.7000
UDM 01951950.4000
Total 23,16523,99747,162100.0141327
Spoilt votes 363402765

In a by-election held on 7 August 2019, a ward previously held by a DA councillor was won by the ANC candidate.[7] The council was reconfigured as seen below:

Party WardPR listTotal
ANC 12618
Democratic Alliance 257
Economic Freedom Fighters 022
Total 141327

Friendship Co-operation Agreement

In February 2011, Makana Municipality entered into a "Friendship Co-operation Agreement" with Raseborg Municipality in Finland. The project, which is to last three years, seeks to facilitate information sharing in the fields of economic development, arts & culture, women development, youth development, and education.[8][9]

Provincial Administration

On 28 August 2014 the Municipality was placed under administration in response to financial and infrastructural crises.[10] The interim administration order, made in terms of section 139(1)(b) of the South African Constitution, is expected to be reviewed after three months.[11] Shortly after the administration order was announced, news of a damning forensic report — the Kabuso report — naming several municipal officials purported to be involved in financial impropriety was made public.[12]

Dissolution

In 2014 the city council was placed under administration by the courts for three months. This was due to its financial instability and inability to provide basic services.[13] This intervention was not successful[13] and on 14 January 2020, the Eastern Cape High Court dissolved the municipal council. The municipality will subsequently head to fresh elections.[14][15] The Makhanda High Court made legal history by ordering the Makana Municipal Council to be dissolved.[13] The court ruled that its ongoing failure to provide services to the residents of Makhanda was unconstitutional.

Residents of Makhanda have widely welcomed a high court ruling that the Makana Municipal Council must be dissolved over its unconstitutional failure to provide services. It was the first such order by a court in South Africa. “This judgment sparks hope. We couldn’t live like this any more. We are very happy,” said Ayanda Kota, the founder of the Unemployed People's Movement, the organisation that brought the application.[9]

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. South African Languages - Place names
  4. "Makana Local Municipality". Census 2011.
  5. "Results Summary – All Ballots: Makana" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  6. "Seat Calculation Detail: Makana" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  7. ANC take four Wards off the DA. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  8. "Finland Trip Feeback". Makana Municipality. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  9. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-01-15-residents-hail-high-court-order-dissolving-makana-municipal-council/
  10. "Gordhan seals Makana handover". Grocott's Mail. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  11. "Makana under administration for 3 months". The New Age. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  12. "Names behind Makana fiasco". Times Media Group. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  13. Kotze, Joleen Steyn. "Landmark court ruling highlights crisis in South Africa's cities and towns". The Conversation. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  14. Nowicki, Lucas (14 January 2020). "Makana Municipality to be dissolved, placed under administration - court orders". News24. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  15. Carlisle, Adrienne (14 January 2020). "Court rules Makana council must be dissolved". DispatchLIVE. Retrieved 14 January 2020.

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