JB Marks Local Municipality

JB Marks Local Municipality is a local municipality of South Africa. It was established after the August 2016 local elections by the merging of Potchefstroom and Ventersdorp local municipalities.[3]

JB Marks Local Municipality
Local municipality
Map of the North West with JB Marks highlighted
Country	South Africa
Province	North West
District	Dr Kenneth Kaunda
Seat	Potchefstroom
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Kgotso Khumalo (ANC)
• Speaker	Elisa Mogoeemang (ANC)
Area [2]
• Total	6,398 km^2 (2,470 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	219,464
• Density	34/km^2 (89/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	NW405

The municipality was renamed after JB Marks in 2017, following the creation of the new municipality the year before. Other name proposals included Josie Mpama.[4] Marks was born in Ventersdorp while Mpama was born in Potchefstroom.

Politics

The municipal council consists of seventy-seven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirty-four councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirty-four wards, while the remaining thirty-three 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 3 August 2016 the African National Congress (ANC) won a narrow majority of thirty-four seats on the council. In October 2020, JB Marks mayor Kgotso Moses Khumalo and municipal director Cyril Hendry were arrested for fraud and theft involving R5m and appeared in the Potchefstroom Magistrate's Court.[5]

The following table shows the results of the election.[6][7]

Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	ANC	33,420	33,269	66,689	50.9	24	10	34
	Democratic Alliance	21,009	21,222	42,231	32.2	10	12	22
	Economic Freedom Fighters	4,927	4,885	9,812	7.5	0	5	5
	Freedom Front Plus	3,586	3,471	7,057	5.4	0	4	4
	Independent Councillors	2,101	2,036	4,137	3.2	0	2	2
	Congress of the People	21	574	595	0.5	0	0	0
	Independent	396	-	396	0.3	0	0	0
	Pan Africanist Congress	44	151	195	0.2	0	0	0
Total		65,504	65,608	131,112	100.0	34	33	67
Spoilt votes		1,169	1,374	2,543

Languages

The 2011 census indicated the following prevalence of languages for the combined municipalities of Tlokwe and Ventersdorp: 67.1% Setswana; 17.4% Afrikaans; 4.2% English; 1.4% IsiZulu; 1.3% Sesotho; 1.0% IsiXhosa; 0.8% IsiNdebele ... [8] [9]

References

1. http://www.ofm.co.za/article/local-news/191169/da-to-be-watchdog-of-anc-in-north-west
2. Sum of the statistics from Census 2011 for Tlokwe, Ventersdorp.
3. "The Local Government Handbook". Retrieved 6 August 2016.
4. News24 - New names for Potch municipality. Retrieved on 5 April 2017
5. "Hawks arrest JB Marks mayor and director for fraud and theft involving R5m". News 24. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
6. "Results Summary – All Ballots: Potchefstroom" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
7. "Seat Calculation Detail: Potchefstroom" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
8. http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=993&id=tlokwe-city-council-municipality
9. http://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=993&id=ventersdorp-municipality

External links

• Official Website