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Intsika Yethu Local Municipality

Coordinates: 32°00′29″S 27°35′03″E / 32.00806°S 27.58417°E / -32.00806; 27.58417
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Intsika Yethu
Local municipality
Official seal of Intsika Yethu
Seal
Location in the Eastern Cape
Location in the Eastern Cape
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceEastern Cape
DistrictChris Hani
SeatCofimvaba
Wards21
Government
[1]
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorKhanyiswa Mdleleni (ANC)
 • SpeakerMyolisi Toni (ANC)
 • Chief WhipYanga Zicina (ANC)
Area
 • Total2,711 km2 (1,047 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total145,372
 • Density54/km2 (140/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[2]
 • Black African99.4%
 • Coloured0.2%
 • Indian/Asian0.1%
 • White0.1%
First languages (2011)
[3]
 • Xhosa95.9%
 • English1.5%
 • Other2.6%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeEC135

Intsika Yethu Municipality (Xhosa: uMasipala wase Intsika Yethu) is a local municipality within the Chris Hani District Municipality, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The municipality is one of the six local municipality in this district.[4] Intsika Yethu is an isiXhosa word meaning "our pillars".[5]

Main places

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The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[6]

Place Code Area (km2) Population
Amabhele 22201 50.39 2,901
Amahlubi 22202 373.66 21,761
Amazizi 22203 153.62 6,614
Cofimvaba Part 1 22204 23.22 4,654
Cofimvaba Part 2 22225 46.48 3,612
Ehlatini 22205 123.15 2,650
Emaqwatini 22206 171.21 7,629
Engcobo 22207 18.42 1,054
Gcaleka 22208 45.97 4,041
Gcuwa 22209 90.10 4,824
Hala 22210 598.02 27,005
Idutywa 22211 80.35 5,513
Intsika Yethu 22212 9.29 30
Jumba 22213 91.59 6,216
KwaNkwenkwazi 22214 187.20 11,575
Lady Frere 22215 12.46 217
Mhlontlo 22216 28.79 597
Mtshanyana 22217 273.57 12,211
Ncora 22218 177.97 9,755
Ndlunkulu 22219 73.11 4,322
Ndungwana 22220 267.03 12,069
Qamata 22221 478.40 31,056
Qwebeqwebe 22222 135.96 7,869
Tsomo Part 1 22223 74.21 3,666
Tsomo Part 2 22226 6.80 979
Xalanga 22224 27.93 1,441

People

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In 2016, the population was 146,341[7] with an estimated population growth of 0.09% per year.[4] This rural community is 99% Black with Xhosa as the most widely spoken language.[7]

Villages within the district have a sense of community and often work collectively, forming communal networks to address their impoverished circumstances.[8] Women generally head households and support their families through informal employment. They are primarily responsible for caring for the elderly and younger members of the family, providing food and gathering firewood.[8]

The late political activist and former leader of the South African Communist Party, Chris Hani, was born in Intsika Yethu in the town of Sabalele.[9] He grew up in a home with five siblings, his mother Nomayise and father Gilbert. The province commemorates the late Chris Hani with a statue, a municipality named after him and the annual Chris Hani Freedom Marathon, which is held on the route that Hani walked to school.[10]

Infrastructure

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This predominantly rural area is characterised by poverty and unemployment, subsistence farming, food insecurity and diseases like HIV/AIDS. Natural disasters such as drought, erosion, and floods and a lack of adequate emergency plans make pre-existing shortages worse.[8]

Intsika Yethu is part of the greater Chris Hani District Municipality that was reported as one of three HIV/AIDS hotspots in the Eastern Cape. This, while the prevalence of new infections and the syndrome have decreased in other districts in the province.[11]

The area remains underserviced with only 2.4% of the 35 851 households having piped water within their homes in 2016.[4] In 2016, President Jacob Zuma launched the Ncora Bulk Water Project, a government initiative that committed to delivering water to areas in the Chris Hani District Municipality and other areas in the country. This project also aimed to broadened the areas’ economic activities.[12] Its main economic sectors include community services, trade and agriculture.[4]

As part of Eskom’s mission to achieve widespread access to electricity for South Africans by 2020, 94 000 homes were connected over three years in the Eastern Cape.[13] In 2016, 86.6% of the homes in Intsika Yethu had electricity.[4]

Economy

[edit]

Many of the households rely on social grants as their sole source of income.[9] The working-age population is largely absent in this region with poorly developed infrastructure and limited employment opportunities. Youth often migrate to the cities in search of work in labour-intensive industries like mining.[9]

Politics

[edit]
Main article: Intsika Yethu Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of forty-two 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-one 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 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of thirty-five seats on the council.[14][15]

The following table shows the results of the election.

Intsika Yethu local election, 1 November 2021
Party Votes Seats
Ward List Total % Ward List Total
African National Congress 27,300 28,280 55,580 78.4% 21 14 35
Economic Freedom Fighters 2,995 3,249 6,244 8.8% 0 4 4
Independent candidates 3,590 – 3,590 5.1% 0 – 0
United Democratic Movement 783 1,192 1,975 2.8% 0 1 1
Democratic Alliance 680 675 1,355 1.9% 0 1 1
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania 369 767 1,136 1.6% 0 1 1
African Transformation Movement 321 489 810 1.1% 0 0 0
Inkatha Freedom Party 2 192 194 0.3% 0 0 0
Total 36,040 34,844 70,884 21 21 42
Valid votes 36,040 34,844 70,884 97.2%
Spoilt votes 809 1,256 2,065 2.8%
Total votes cast 36,849 36,100 72,949
Voter turnout 36,925
Registered voters 75,098
Turnout percentage 49.2%

References

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  1. ^ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  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. ^ a b c d e Local Government. Intsika Yethu Local Municipality.
  5. ^ South African Languages - Place names
  6. ^ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ a b City Population. INTSIKA YETHU (Local Municipality in South Africa).
  8. ^ a b c Meyiwa, T., Letsekha, T. and Wiebesiek, L., 2013. Masihambisane, lessons learnt using participatory indigenous knowledge research approaches in a school-based collaborative project of the Eastern Cape. South African Journal of Education, 33(4), pp.1-15.
  9. ^ a b c Eppel, Nic. Son of the soil: The slow life in Chris Hani's home town, 10 January 2014. Mail & Guardian, accessed 15 June 2017.
  10. ^ Running For A Hero. 2017. Forbes Africa. Accessed 23 June 2017.
  11. ^ Bay one of three HIV/Aids hotspots. 2016. Herald Live. Accessed 23 June 2017.
  12. ^ Zuma launches Ncora Bulk Water Project. 2016. IOL. Accessed 27 June 2017.
  13. ^ Eskom lights up rural Eastern Cape, 17 March 2017. The Citizen, accessed 15 June 2017.
  14. ^ "Results Summary - All Ballots" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Seat Calculation Detail" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
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32°00′29″S 27°35′03″E / 32.00806°S 27.58417°E / -32.00806; 27.58417

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