Witzenberg Local Municipality

Witzenberg
Local municipality

Seal
The Witzenberg Local Municipality is located in the Cape Winelands district, to the north-east of Cape Town.
Location in the Western Cape
Coordinates: 33°00′S 19°40′E / 33.000°S 19.667°E / -33.000; 19.667Coordinates: 33°00′S 19°40′E / 33.000°S 19.667°E / -33.000; 19.667
Country South Africa
Province Western Cape
District Cape Winelands
Seat Ceres
Wards 12
Government[1]
 • Type Municipal council
 • Mayor Cllr. Barnito Klaasen (Democratic Alliance)
 • Municipal Manager David Nasson
Area
 • Total 10,753 km2 (4,152 sq mi)
Population (2011)[2]
 • Total 115,946
 • Density 11/km2 (28/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[2]
 • Black African 25.3%
 • Coloured 65.9%
 • Indian/Asian 0.2%
 • White 7.7%
First languages (2011)[3]
 • Afrikaans 75.2%
 • Xhosa 16.6%
 • Sotho 4.5%
 • English 2.0%
 • Other 1.7%
Time zone SAST (UTC+2)
Municipal code WC022

Witzenberg Municipality is a local municipality located within the Cape Winelands District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2011 it had a population of 115,946.[2]

Geography

The municipality covers an area of 10,753 square kilometres (4,152 sq mi) which includes the Land van Waveren (Tulbagh) valley, the Warm Bokkeveld, the Koue Bokkeveld and the Ceres-Karoo. It stretches from the Groot Winterhoek Mountains in the west and the Hex River Mountains in the south as far as the Northern Cape provincial border in the north and east. It abuts on the Hantam Municipality to the north, the Karoo Hoogland Municipality to the northeast, the Laingsburg Municipality to the southeast, the Breede Valley Municipality to the south, the Drakenstein Municipality to the southwest, the Bergrivier Municipality to the west and the Cederberg Municipality to the northwest.

According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 115,946 people in 27,419 households. Of this population, 65.9% describe themselves as "Coloured", 25.3% as "Black African", and 7.7% as "White". The first language of 75.2% of the population is Afrikaans, while 16.6% speak Xhosa, 4.5% speak Sotho and 2.0% speak English.[4]

The principal town and location of the municipal head office is Ceres on the eastern slope of the Skurweberg mountains, which as of 2011 has a population of 33,224.[5] To the west of Ceres, on the other side of the mountains, is the Land van Waveren valley with the towns of Wolseley (pop. 12,130)[6] and Tulbagh (pop. 8,969).[7] To the north of Ceres is the town of Prince Alfred Hamlet (pop. 6,810),[8] and further north, in the Koue Bokkeveld, the village of Op-die-Berg (pop. 1,531).[9]

Politics

The municipal council consists of twenty-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twelve councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twelve wards, while the remaining eleven 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 of seats. The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.[10][11]

Party Votes Seats
Ward List Total % Ward List Total
Democratic Alliance 9,634 10,024 19,658 46.4 7 3 10
African National Congress 7,622 7,764 15,386 36.3 4 4 8
National People's Party 722 681 1,403 3.3 0 1 1
Congress of the People 578 612 1,190 2.8 0 1 1
Voice of Independents Party 430 385 815 1.9 0 1 1
Democratic Christian Party 403 392 795 1.9 0 1 1
United Independent Front 383 386 769 1.8 0 0 0
Independent 699 – 699 1.6 1 – 1
African Christian Democratic Party 309 346 655 1.5 0 0 0
Democratic Association of Witzenberg Independence 334 282 616 1.5 0 0 0
South African Progressive Civic Organisation 194 201 395 0.9 0 0 0
Total 21,308 21,073 42,381 100.0 12 11 23
Spoilt votes 293 517 810

Initially the ten councillors from the Democratic Alliance (DA) formed a coalition with one councillor from the Congress of the People (COPE) and one independent councillor to govern the municipality.[12] On 30 January 2013 a by-election was held to replace a councillor who had lost his seat because he was expelled from the DA; he was re-elected as an ANC representative.[13] However, the DA maintained control of the council by including the Democratic Christian Party councillor in its coalition.[14]

The local council sends three representatives to the council of the Cape Winelands District Municipality: two from the Democratic Alliance and one from the African National Congress.[14]

Municipal Leadership

Name Title
David Nasson Municipal Manager
Cobus Kritzinger Director: Finance
Joseph Barnard Director: Technical Services
Monwabisi Mpeluza Director: Corporate Services
Jo-Ann Krieger Director: Community Services

Partners

Since 2002 Witzenberg has an official town twinning agreement with the town Essen in Belgium. The city-to-city cooperation consists of sustainable development programs in the vulnarable areas concerning youth, local economic development and environment.

References

  1. ↑ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Witzenberg Local Municipality". Census 2011.
  5. ↑ Sum of the Main Places Bella Vista, Ceres and eNduli from Census 2011.
  6. ↑ Sum of the Main Places Wolseley, Pine Valley and Montana from Census 2011.
  7. ↑ Main Place Tulbagh from Census 2011.
  8. ↑ Main Place Prince Alfred Hamlet from Census 2011.
  9. ↑ Main Place Op-die-Berg from Census 2011.
  10. ↑ "Results Summary – All Ballots: Witzenberg" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  11. ↑ "Seat Calculation Detail: Witzenberg" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  12. ↑ "Political composition of councils" (PDF). Western Cape Department of Local Government. August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  13. ↑ Gernetzky, Karl (31 January 2013). "DA keeps two wards, loses one in by-elections". BusinessDay. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  14. 1 2 "Political composition of councils" (PDF). Western Cape Department of Local Government. June 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
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