Theewaterskloof Local Municipality

Theewaterskloof Municipality is a local municipality located within the Overberg District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2007, the population was 108,790.[2] Its municipality code is WC031. The enormous Theewaterskloof Dam, which provides water for Cape Town and the surrounding areas, is located in this municipality.

Theewaterskloof
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Western Cape
Coordinates: 34°10′S 19°30′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	Overberg
Seat	Caledon
Wards	13
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Christelle Vosloo
Area
• Total	3,232 km^2 (1,248 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	108,790
• Density	34/km^2 (87/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	26.4%
• Coloured	62.9%
• Indian/Asian	0.4%
• White	9.4%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Afrikaans	73.6%
• Xhosa	16.9%
• English	3.9%
• Sotho	3.6%
• Other	2%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	WC031

Geography

The municipality covers an area of 3,232 square kilometres (1,248 sq mi) in the western interior of the Overberg region. It occupies the area between the Riviersonderend Mountains to the north and the Kogelberg and Kleinrivier Mountains to the south; to the west it stretches as far as the Hottentots-Holland mountains.

The western area of the municipality is the Elgin Valley, drained by the Palmiet River. The northern part is the valley of the Sonderend River including the Theewaterskloof Dam. The southeastern part is in the Overberg plain, drained by the Bot and Klein Rivers.[4]

According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 108,790 people in 28,884 households. Of this population, 62.9% describe themselves as "Coloured", 26.4% as "Black African", and 9.4% as "White". The first language of 73.6% of the population is Afrikaans, while 16.9% speak Xhosa, 3.9% speak English and 3.6% speak Sotho.[5]

The largest town in the municipality is Grabouw in the Elgin Valley, which as of 2011 has a population of 30,337. However, the municipal headquarters are situated in Caledon (pop. 13,020) on the plain. Between Grabouw and Caledon is Botrivier (pop. 5,505) at the base of the Houwhoek Pass. Villiersdorp (pop. 10,004) is located in the northern part of the municipality close to the Theewaterskloof Dam. Downstream from the dam along the Sonderend River are the villages of Genadendal (pop. 5,663), Greyton (pop. 2,780) and Riviersonderend (pop. 5,245). The smallest town in the district is Tesselaarsdal, which is approximately 20km south-east of Caledon.[6]

Politics

The municipal council consists of twenty-seven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Fourteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in fourteen wards, while the remaining thirteen 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 Democratic Alliance (DA) obtained a majority of fourteen seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.[7][8][9]

Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	Democratic Alliance	16,103	16,882	32,985	51.0%	9	5	14
	ANC	11,650	11,873	23,523	36.3%	5	5	10
	United Front of the Eastern Cape	1,113	1,154	2,267	3.5%	0	1	1
	Economic Freedom Fighters	799	820	1,619	2.5%	0	1	1
	Independent	1,451	–	1,451	2.2%	0	–	0
	Independent Civic Organisation	442	480	922	1.4%	0	1	1
	UDM	433	417	850	1.3%	0	0	0
	Freedom Front Plus	229	260	489	0.8%	0	0	0
	ACDP	163	281	444	0.7%	0	0	0
	People's Democratic Movement	31	62	93	0.1%	0	0	0
	The Peoples Independent Civic Organisation	23	53	76	0.1%	0	0	0
Total		32,437	32,282	64,719		14	13	27
Valid votes		32,437	32,282	64,719	97.1%
Spoilt votes		947	971	1,918	2.9%
Total votes cast		33,384	33,253	66,637
Voter turnout		33,435
Registered voters		56,687
Turnout percentage		59.0%

The local council sends five representatives to the council of the Overberg District Municipality: three from the Democratic Alliance and two from the African National Congress.[10]

References

1. "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
2. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
3. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
4. C. Schoeman: The Historical Overberg. Traces of the Past in South Africa's Southernmost Region. Penguin Random House South Africa. 2017. ISBN 978-1-77609-072-3
5. "Theewaterskloof Local Municipality". Census 2011.
6. "Our towns". TWK Municipality. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
7. "Results Summary – All Ballots: Theewaterskloof" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
8. "Seat Calculation Detail: Theewaterskloof" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
9. "Voter Turnout Report: Theewaterskloof" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
10. "Political composition of councils February 2017" (PDF). Western Cape Department of Local Government. February 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.

External links

• Official website
• Theewaterskloof Local Municipality on the Western Cape Government website