Jump to content

Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality

Coordinates: 31°45′S 21°15′E / 31.750°S 21.250°E / -31.750; 21.250
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Karoo Hoogland
Official seal of Karoo Hoogland
Location in the Northern Cape
Location in the Northern Cape
Coordinates: 31°45′S 21°15′E / 31.750°S 21.250°E / -31.750; 21.250
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceNorthern Cape
DistrictNamakwa
SeatWilliston
Wards6
Government
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorAnthony Mietas (PA)
Area
 • Total32,274 km2 (12,461 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total12,588
 • Density0.39/km2 (1.0/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African5.5%
 • Coloured78.9%
 • Indian/Asian0.7%
 • White14.6%
First languages (2011)
 • Afrikaans96.3%
 • English1.3%
 • Other2.4%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeNC066

Karoo Hoogland Municipality (Afrikaans: Karoo Hoogland Munisipaliteit) is a local municipality within the Namakwa District Municipality, in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The municipality incorporates the towns of Williston, Fraserburg and Sutherland. Although the towns are separated by more than 100 km by road, they share many administrative tasks.

Hoogland is an Afrikaans word meaning "highland" and Karoo is a Khoekhoe word meaning "hard" or "dry". The name reflects the area which has dry, arid and desert-like conditions.[4]

In 2011, Karoo Hoogland elected the first mayor from the Congress of the People (COPE) party, Jan Julies, and a COPE-DA coalition took control of the council after the election of 18 May 2011.[5] This lasted until the 2016 elections.

Main places

[edit]

The 2011 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[6]

Place Code Area (km2) Population
Fraserburg 367003 98.9 3,029
Sutherland 367004 36.0 2,836
Williston 367001 77.9 3,368
Remainder 367002 32,061.1 3,356
Total 32,273.9 12,588

Politics

[edit]

The municipal council consists of eleven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Six councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in six wards, while the remaining five 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 1 November 2021 no party obtained a majority of seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.[7][8]

Karoo Hoogland local election, 1 November 2021
Party Votes Seats
Ward List Total % Ward List Total
African National Congress 1,815 1,803 3,618 40.8% 3 2 5
Democratic Alliance 1,337 1,335 2,672 30.2% 3 0 3
Patriotic Alliance 962 994 1,956 22.1% 0 2 2
Freedom Front Plus 229 225 454 5.1% 0 1 1
Congress of the People 42 60 102 1.2% 0 0 0
Economic Freedom Fighters 29 29 58 0.7% 0 0 0
Total 4,414 4,446 8,860 6 5 11
Valid votes 4,414 4,446 8,860 98.7%
Spoilt votes 64 57 121 1.3%
Total votes cast 4,478 4,503 8,981
Voter turnout 4,507
Registered voters 7,250
Turnout percentage 62.2%

On 8 December 2022 the PA/ANC coalition collapsed during a no confidence motion brought by the DA. Consequently the PA mayor Anthony Mietas was replaced by the DA’s Johan van der Colff.[9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Munisipaliteit". Karoo Hoogland Municipality. 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  2. ^ a b "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  4. ^ South African Languages - Place names
  5. ^ "First COPE mayor sworn in". IOL. Sapa. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality". Census 2011.
  7. ^ "Results Summary - All Ballots" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Seat Calculation Detail" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  9. ^ Cruywagen, Vincent (8 December 2022). "MUNICIPAL POLITICS: Another coalition crumbles as Patriotic Alliance mayor and Speaker are deposed in Karoo Hoogland". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
[edit]