Blouberg Local Municipality

Blouberg Local Municipality is a municipality in the Limpopo Province, northern South Africa, bordering Botswana. It takes its name from the Blouberg (literally meaning blue mountain),[4] a mountain range located to the west of the western end of the Soutpansberg mountain range, north west of the town of Vivo. Blouberg is home to some of the most spectacular rock climbing in South Africa. The rock climbing destination is famous for its big wall natural climbing with route lengths up to 350m. The vegetation ranges from sub-tropical savanna at the base, to alpine near the summit.

Blouberg
Local municipality
Seal
Location in Limpopo
Country	South Africa
Province	Limpopo
District	Capricorn
Seat	Senwabarwana
Wards	22
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Maseka Solomon Pheedi
Area
• Total	9,248 km^2 (3,571 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	162,629
• Density	18/km^2 (46/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	99.0%
• Coloured	0.0%
• Indian/Asian	0.1%
• White	0.6%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Northern Sotho	93.8%
• Other	6.2%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	LIM351

Demography

According to the 2001 census conducted by Statistics South Africa, the population of the greater Blouberg municipality was 161,314, of whom 99.4% are African, 0.5% white, 0.1% Coloured and 0.1% Asian.

A boy in Blouberg, amongst the local flora and dwellings

Men play "pool" (snooker) in a bar in Blouberg, Limpopo.

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[5]

Place	Code	Area (km^2)	Population	Most spoken language
Alldays	90901	11.75	385	Northern Sotho
Bahanawa	90902	390.17	19,068	Northern Sotho
Bahanawa-Ba-Kibi	90903	163.78	7,763	Northern Sotho
Bochum Part 1	90912	4.33	8,501	Northern Sotho
Bochum Part 2	90905	182.33	15,911	Northern Sotho
Dichoeng	90906	58.29	17,347	Northern Sotho
Ga-Manthata	90907	1,335.47	72,175	Northern Sotho
Ga-Matlala	90908	180.83	8,697	Northern Sotho
Ga-Ramutla	90910	7.81	1,047	Northern Sotho
Remainder of the municipality	90904	2,198.72	5,539	Northern Sotho

Politics

The municipal council consists of forty-four members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-two councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-two wards, while the remaining twenty-two 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 majority of thirty-three seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.[6][7]

Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	African National Congress	30,986	31,347	62,333	73.8	22	11	33
	Economic Freedom Fighters	7,450	7,277	14,727	17.4	0	8	8
	Democratic Alliance	2,279	2,229	4,508	5.3	0	2	2
	Congress of the People	843	781	1,624	1.9	0	1	1
	Agang SA	273	291	564	0.7	0	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	253	241	494	0.6	0	0	0
	United Democratic Movement	97	111	208	0.3	0	0	0
Total		42,181	42,277	84,458	100.0	22	22	44
Spoilt votes		574	552	1,126

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. "Seraki Blouberg Route - South Africa - Open Africa". Archived from the original on 2012-01-05. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
5. Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
6. "Results Summary – All Ballots: Blouberg" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
7. "Seat Calculation Detail: Blouberg" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 January 2017.

External links

• Blouberg Municipality Website