Breede Valley Local Municipality

Breede Valley Breedevallei
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Western Cape
Coordinates: 33°40′S 19°30′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	Cape Winelands
Seat	Worcester
Wards	21
Government
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Antoinette Steyn (DA)
Area
• Total	3,833 km2 (1,480 sq mi)
Population  (2022)
• Total	212,682
• Density	55/km2 (140/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2022)
• Black African	30.0%
• Coloured	59.1%
• Indian/Asian	0.4%
• White	9.5%
First languages (2011)
• Afrikaans	76.0%
• Xhosa	16.1%
• English	2.9%
• Sotho	2.7%
• Other	2.3%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	WC025

Breede Valley Municipality (Afrikaans: Breedevallei Munisipaliteit; Xhosa: uMasipala weNtlambo yeBreede) is a local municipality located within the Cape Winelands District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2007, it had a population of 166,825. Its municipality code is WC025.

Geography

The municipality covers a total area of 3,833 square kilometres (1,480 sq mi). It includes a middle section of the Breede River Valley around the town of Worcester, and stretches up the Hex River valley to the edge of the Karoo. It abuts on the Witzenberg Municipality to the north, the Laingsburg Municipality to the east, the Langeberg Municipality to the southeast, the Theewaterskloof Municipality to the south, the Stellenbosch Municipality to the southwest and the Drakenstein Municipality to the west.

According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 166,825 people in 42,527 households. Of this population, 63.3% describe themselves as "Coloured", 24.3% as "Black African", and 10.7% as "White". The first language of 76.0% of the population is Afrikaans, while 16.1% speak Xhosa, 2.9% speak English and 2.7% speak Sotho.

Most of the residents of the municipality live in Worcester, which as of 2011 has a population of 97,078. Other towns in the municipality are Rawsonville (pop. 3,099) close to Worcester in the Breede Valley; De Doorns (pop. 11,278) in the Hex River Valley; and Touws River (pop. 8,126) on the edge of the Karoo.

History

At the end of the apartheid era, the area that is today the Breede Valley Municipality formed part of the Breërivier Regional Services Council (RSC). The towns of Worcester, Rawsonville, De Doorns and Touws River were governed by municipal councils elected by their white residents. The coloured residents of Worcester, De Doorns and Touws River were governed by management committees subordinate to the white councils. Zweletemba was governed by a town council established under the Black Local Authorities Act, 1982.

While the negotiations to end apartheid were taking place a process was established for local authorities to agree on voluntary mergers. In January 1993, the Municipality of Worcester and the Worcester Management Committee merged into a single municipal council. Similar mergers occurred in De Doorns in June 1993 and Touws River in October 1993.

After the national elections of 1994 a process of local government transformation began, in which negotiations were held between the existing local authorities, political parties, and local community organisations. As a result of these negotiations, the existing local authorities were dissolved and transitional local councils (TLCs) were created for each town and village. In October 1994 the Municipality of Worcester and the Zweletemba Town Council were replaced by the Worcester TLC. In December the Municipality of Touws River was replaced by the Touws River TLC; and in January 1995 the municipalities of De Doorns and Rawsonville were both replaced by TLCs.

The transitional councils were initially made up of members nominated by the various parties to the negotiations, until May 1996 when elections were held. At these elections the Breërivier District Council was established, replacing the Breërivier RSC. Transitional representative councils (TRCs) were also elected to represent rural areas outside the TLCs on the District Council; the area that was to become Breede Valley Municipality included most of the Matroosberg TRC.

At the local elections of December 2000 the TLCs and TRCs were dissolved and the Breede Valley Municipality was established as a single local authority. At the same election the Breërivier District Council was also dissolved and replaced by the Boland District Municipality. In 2011 when District Management Areas were abolished, the eastern boundary of the municipality was extended to include the sparsely populated region to the east of Touws River which had formerly been part of a DMA.

Politics

Main article: Breede Valley Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of forty-one members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-one councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-one wards, while the remaining twenty 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 2021 election.

Breede Valley local election, 1 November 2021
Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	Democratic Alliance	16,480	16,501	32,981	44.8%	12	7	19
	African National Congress	8,644	8,772	17,416	23.7%	8	2	10
	Breedevallei Onafhanklik	3,553	3,649	7,202	9.8%	1	3	4
	Freedom Front Plus	2,140	2,062	4,202	5.7%	0	2	2
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,220	1,439	2,659	3.6%	0	2	2
	Good	1,243	1,347	2,590	3.5%	0	2	2
	Patriotic Alliance	1,055	1,072	2,127	2.9%	0	1	1
	African Christian Democratic Party	491	475	966	1.3%	0	1	1
	Independent candidates	224	–	224	0.3%	0	–	0
	13 other parties	1,583	1,635	3,218	4.4%	0	0	0
Total		36,633	36,952	73,585		21	20	41
Valid votes		36,633	36,952	73,585	98.8%
Spoilt votes		442	447	889	1.2%
Total votes cast		37,075	37,399	74,474
Voter turnout		37,507
Registered voters		77,739
Turnout percentage		48.2%

External links

• Official website
• Breede Valley Local Municipality on the Western Cape Government website