West Coast District Municipality

This article is about the municipality in South Africa. For other uses, see West Coast (disambiguation).

West Coast Weskus
District municipality
Seal
Location in South Africa
Local municipalities within the West Coast
Coordinates: 32°30′S 18°45′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
Seat	Moorreesburg
Local municipalities	List Matzikama Cederberg Bergrivier Saldanha Bay Swartland
Government
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Herbrecht Kitshoff (DA)
Area
• Total	31,119 km2 (12,015 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	391,766
• Density	13/km2 (33/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	16.4%
• Coloured	66.6%
• Indian/Asian	0.6%
• White	15.7%
First languages (2011)
• Afrikaans	83.7%
• Xhosa	8.6%
• English	4.0%
• Sotho	1.3%
• Other	2.4%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	DC1

The West Coast District Municipality is a district municipality located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its municipality code is DC1. Moorreesburg is the seat of the district. As of 2011 it had a total population of 391,766.

Geography

The municipality, which covers an area of 31,119 square kilometres (12,015 sq mi), lies along the Atlantic coast of the Western Cape, extending approximately 350 kilometres (220 mi) from north to south. It includes the coastal plain and is generally bounded on the east by the mountains of the escarpment, though in the case of the Cederberg mountains the border passes further to the east, along the Doring River, so that the mountains are included in the municipal area. The principal rivers in the area are the Berg River, which drains the southern part of the municipality, and the Olifants River, which drains the Cederberg and the northern part of the municipality.

The southernmost part of the district, adjacent to Cape Town, is known as the Swartland and is primarily a grain-farming area. The Berg River flows across the Swartland from its sources in the Boland mountains. On the coast west of the Swartland is the Cape Columbine peninsula, with a number of coastal holiday resorts as well as the ore-export harbour at Saldanha Bay. On the north the Swartland is bounded by mountains which separate it from the Olifants River Valley.

The upper valley of the Olifants is predominantly a citrus-farming region. The Cederberg mountains, much of which are a protected wilderness area, rise from the eastern bank of the river, while along the coast to the west are fishing and holiday villages. The Olifants river continues northwards until, on the edge of the Knersvlakte, it turns west towards the Atlantic. In the lower valley there is a narrow strip of lush agricultural land irrigated by the river's water. The Knersvlakte, which is part of the arid Namaqualand region, forms the northernmost part of the district.

The largest towns in the district are Vredenburg and Saldanha on the Cape Columbine peninsula, Malmesbury in the Swartland, and Vredendal in the Olifants River Valley. The district is divided into five local municipalities which are described in the following table.

Name	Seat	Population (2011)	Area (km2)	Density (inhabitants/km2)
Matzikama	Vredendal	67,147	12,981	5.2
Cederberg	Clanwilliam	49,768	8,007	6.3
Bergrivier	Piketberg	61,897	4,407	14.0
Saldanha Bay	Vredenburg	99,193	2,015	49.2
Swartland	Malmesbury	113,762	3,707	30.7
Total		391,767	31,119	12.6

The district borders to the north and northeast on the Namakwa District Municipality in the Northern Cape province, to the southeast on the Cape Winelands District Municipality, and to the south on the City of Cape Town.

Demographics

The following statistics are from the 2011 Census. Note that due to fuzzing applied to statistics, columns may not sum to exactly the indicated total.

First language Language Population % Afrikaans 311,829 83.7% Xhosa 31,978 8.6% English 14,828 4.0% Sotho 4,668 1.3% Tswana 2,358 0.6% Sign language 1,146 0.3% Zulu 833 0.2% Ndebele 683 0.2% Tsonga 448 0.1% Venda 327 0.1% Northern Sotho 322 0.1% Swazi 206 0.1% Other 3,043 0.8% Total 372,669 Not applicable 19,099 Race Race Population % Coloured 260,850 66.6% Black African 64,110 16.4% White 61,527 15.7% Indian or Asian 2,181 0.6% Other 3,098 0.8% Total 391,766

Gender Gender Population % Female 197,227 50.3% Male 194,539 49.7% Total 391,766 Age Age group Population % 0–4 36,668 9.4% 5–9 31,859 8.1% 10–14 31,196 8.0% 15–19 32,431 8.3% 20–24 37,729 9.6% 25–29 36,832 9.4% 30–34 29,556 7.5% 35–39 28,855 7.4% 40–44 28,582 7.3% 45–49 24,805 6.3% 50–54 20,878 5.3% 55–59 16,299 4.2% 60–64 12,513 3.2% 65–69 8,944 2.3% 70–74 6,413 1.6% 75–79 4,158 1.1% 80–84 2,336 0.6% 85+ 1,078 0.3% Total 391,766

Politics

The council of the West Coast District Municipality consists of twenty-five councillors, of whom ten are directly elected by party-list proportional representation. The other fifteen councillors are appointed by the councils of the five local municipalities in the district: Saldanha Bay appoints five, Swartland appoints four, and Matzikama, Cederberg and Bergrivier appoint two each. After the elections of 3 August 2016 there are sixteen councillors from the Democratic Alliance (DA) and nine from the African National Congress (ANC).

The following table shows the composition of the council after the 2016 election.

Party		Directly elected	Appointed by local councils					Total
			Matzikama	Cederberg	Bergrivier	Saldanha Bay	Swartland
	DA	7	1	1	1	3	3	16
	African National Congress	3	1	1	1	2	1	9

The following table shows the results of the election of the ten directly-elected councillors.

Party		Votes	Vote %	Seats
	DA	70,893	63.1	7
	African National Congress	34,512	30.7	3
	Economic Freedom Fighters	2,462	2.2	0
	VF+	1,313	1.2	0
	Khoisan Revolution	685	0.6	0
	United Democrats	598	0.5	0
	Saldanha Bay Residents Alliance	578	0.5	0
	Nationalist Coloured Party	434	0.4	0
	Cape Party	361	0.3	0
	National Democratic Party	298	0.3	0
	The Peoples Independent Civic Organisation	158	0.1	0
	Democratic New Civic Association	131	0.1	0
Valid votes		112,423		10
Valid votes		112,423	98.2
Spoilt votes		2,093	1.8
Total votes cast		114,516
Registered voters		187,386
Turnout percentage		61.1

Mayors

• Harold Cleophas (2011;present)
• Rene Kitshoff (2008-2011)
• Jacob Botha (2005–2008)
• Hendrik Potgieter (-2005)

External links

• Official website
• West Coast District Municipality on the Western Cape Government website