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West Coast District Municipality

Coordinates: 32°30′S 18°45′E / 32.500°S 18.750°E / -32.500; 18.750
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the municipality in South Africa. For other uses, see West Coast (disambiguation).
West Coast
Weskus
District municipality
Official seal of West Coast
Seal
The West Coast District Municipality is located along the western (Atlantic) coast of the Western Cape province, encompassing the area of the province north of Cape Town.
Location in South Africa
From north to south, the West Coast District Municipality contains the Matzikama, Cederberg, Bergrivier, Saldanha Bay and Swartland local municipalities
Local municipalities within the West Coast
Coordinates: 32°30′S 18°45′E / 32.500°S 18.750°E / -32.500; 18.750
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceWestern Cape
SeatMoorreesburg
Local municipalities
List
Government
[2]
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorRoelof Strydom[1] (DA)
Area
 • Total31,119 km2 (12,015 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[3]
 • Total391,766
 • Density13/km2 (33/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[3]
 • Black African16.4%
 • Coloured66.6%
 • Indian/Asian0.6%
 • White15.7%
First languages (2011)
[3]
 • Afrikaans83.7%
 • Xhosa8.6%
 • English4.0%
 • Sotho1.3%
 • Other2.4%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeDC1

The West Coast District Municipality (Afrikaans: Weskus-distriksmunisipaliteit; Xhosa: uMasipala weSithili soNxweme oluseNtshona) 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.[3]

Geography

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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[4] Vredendal 67,147 12,981 5.2
Cederberg[5] Clanwilliam 49,768 8,007 6.3
Bergrivier[6] Piketberg 61,897 4,407 14.0
Saldanha Bay[7] Vredenburg 99,193 2,015 49.2
Swartland[8] 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

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The following statistics are from the 2011 Census.[9] Note that due to fuzzing applied to statistics, columns may not sum to exactly the indicated total.

First language

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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

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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

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Gender Population %
Female 197,227 50.3%
Male 194,539 49.7%
Total 391,766

Age

[edit]
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

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This article is part of a series on the
Politics of the
Western Cape
Constitution
List of acts of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament
Executive
Premier

The Hon Alan Winde MMP

Provincial Cabinet
Provincial Parliament
Western Cape Parliament

The Seventh Provincial Parliament

Speaker
Daylin Mitchell MMP
Deputy Speaker
Reagan Allen MMP

Chief Whip of the Majority Party
Gillon Bosman MMP
Leader of the Opposition
Khalid Sayed MMP
Chief Whip of the Official Opposition
Ayanda Bans MMP

Judiciary
Western Cape Division
Administrative divisions
List of municipalities in the Western Cape
Elections
Provincial:

Municipal:

Related topics
Other provinces

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).[10]

The following table shows the composition of the council after the 2016 election.[10]

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.[11][12]

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

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References

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  1. ^ West Coast District Municipality
  2. ^ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Matzikama Local Municipality". The Local Government Handbook. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Cederberg Local Municipality". The Local Government Handbook. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Bergrivier Local Municipality". The Local Government Handbook. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  7. ^ "Saldanha Bay Local Municipality". The Local Government Handbook. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  8. ^ "Swartland Local Municipality". The Local Government Handbook. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  9. ^ Census 2011 statistical tables accessible through Stats SA SuperWEB Archived 2013-09-30 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ^ a b "Political composition of councils February 2017" (PDF). Western Cape Department of Local Government. February 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  11. ^ "Detailed DC 40% Ballot Results Report: DC1 - West Coast" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  12. ^ "Seat Calculation Detail: DC1 - West Coast" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
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