George Local Municipality

George
Local municipality

Seal

Location of George Local Municipality within the Western Cape
Coordinates: 33°45′S 22°50′E / 33.750°S 22.833°E / -33.750; 22.833Coordinates: 33°45′S 22°50′E / 33.750°S 22.833°E / -33.750; 22.833
Country South Africa
Province Western Cape
District Eden
Seat George
Wards 25
Government[1]
 • Type Municipal council
 • Mayor Charles Standers (DA)
Area
 • Total 5,191 km2 (2,004 sq mi)
Population (2011)[2]
 • Total 193,672
 • Density 37/km2 (97/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[2]
 • Black African 28.2%
 • Coloured 50.4%
 • Indian/Asian 0.5%
 • White 19.7%
First languages (2011)[3]
 • Afrikaans 67.2%
 • Xhosa 21.6%
 • English 8.1%
 • Other 3.1%
Time zone SAST (UTC+2)
Municipal code WC044

George Municipality is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. As of 2011 the population is 193,672.[2] Its municipality code is WC044.

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.[4]

The majority of the residents of the municipality are in the city of George, which as of 2011 has a population of 157,394.[5] 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 forty-nine members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-five councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-five wards, while the remaining twenty-four 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 the Democratic Alliance (DA) won a majority of twenty-five seats on the council

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.[6][7]

Party Votes Seats
Ward List Total % Ward List Total
Democratic Alliance 28,155 28,491 56,646 50.8 16 9 25
African National Congress 21,720 22,156 43,876 39.3 9 10 19
Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners 1,668 1,573 3,241 2.9 0 1 1
Independent Civic Organisation 927 851 1,778 1.6 0 1 1
African Christian Democratic Party 786 696 1,482 1.3 0 1 1
George Independent Ratepayers Forum 813 568 1,381 1.2 0 1 1
Congress of the People 511 515 1,026 0.9 0 1 1
Freedom Front Plus 436 370 806 0.7 0 0 0
National People's Party 250 237 487 0.4 0 0 0
South Cape Community Forum 134 113 247 0.2 0 0 0
Independent 209 – 209 0.2 0 – 0
United Democratic Movement 75 134 209 0.2 0 0 0
Ou Pacaltsdorp Inwoners Vereniging – 155 155 0.1 – 0 0
African People's Convention 14 – 14 0.0 0 – 0
Total 55,698 55,859 111,557 100.0 25 24 49
Spoilt votes 737 555 1,292

The local council sends six representatives to the council of the Eden District Municipality: three from the Democratic Alliance, two from the African National Congress and one from the African Christian Democratic Party.[8]

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. ↑ "George Local Municipality". Census 2011.
  5. ↑ Sum of the Main Places George and Thembalethu from Census 2011.
  6. ↑ "Results Summary – All Ballots: George" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  7. ↑ "Seat Calculation Detail: George" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Political composition of councils" (PDF). Western Cape Department of Local Government. August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.

External links

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