Mossel Bay Local Municipality

Mossel Bay Municipality is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. As of 2011 the population was 89,430.[2]

Mossel Bay Mosselbaai
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Western Cape
Coordinates: 34°05′S 22°00′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	Garden Route
Seat	Mossel Bay
Wards	14
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Harry Levendal (DA)
Area
• Total	2,011 km^2 (776 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	89,430
• Density	44/km^2 (120/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	29.5%
• Coloured	43.5%
• Indian/Asian	0.5%
• White	25.5%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Afrikaans	67.6%
• Xhosa	21.5%
• English	6.5%
• Sotho	1.3%
• Other	3.1%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	WC043

Geography

The municipality covers an area of 2,011 square kilometres (776 sq mi) on the coastal plain between the Outeniqua Mountains and the sea. It stretches from the Gourits River in the west to beyond the Great Brak River in the east. It is drained by the Gourits, Hartenbos, Little Brak and Great Brak Rivers. It abuts on the Hessequa Municipality to the west, the Oudtshoorn Municipality to the north and the George Municipality to the east.

According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 89,430 people in 28,025 households. Of this population, 43.5% describe themselves as "Coloured", 29.5% as "Black African", and 25.5% as "White". The first language of 67.6% of the population is Afrikaans, while 21.5% speak Xhosa, 6.5% speak English and 1.3% speak Sotho.[4]

The principal town is Mossel Bay on the Cape St Blaize peninsula, which as of 2011 has a population of 59,031.[5] Northeast of Mossel Bay is a string of coastal resorts along the shores of the bay: Hartenbos (pop. 4,196), Little Brak River (pop. 2,037), Reebok (pop. 1,112), Tergniet (pop. 1,264) and Great Brak River (pop. 10,619). To the southwest of Mossel Bay are the smaller coastal villages of Boggomsbaai (pop. 69) and Vleesbaai (pop. 193). Herbertsdale (pop. 666), Brandwag (pop. 1,470) and Friemersheim (pop. 1,235) are situated in the interior of the municipality closer to the mountains.

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.

Marie Ferreira of the Democratic Alliance (DA) became executive mayor after the March 2006 local government elections when the DA formed a coalition with Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (ICOSA) since no single party had obtained an outright majority. The DA held 10 seats in the (then) 23-seat council followed by 8 for the African National Congress (ANC) and 3 for ICOSA. Following the September 2007 floor-crossing window the DA gained an outright majority when 3 councillors defected to the DA resulting in the DA holding 13 seats out of 23 while the ANC lost a seat to the DA and currently has 7. ICOSA lost its representation in the council when 2 councillors defected to the DA and its one ward councillor became an independent.

In the election of 18 May 2011 the DA won a majority of sixteen seats on the council. In the election of 3 August 2016 the DA increased its majority to seventeen seats. The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.[6][7][8]

Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	Democratic Alliance	22,808	22,702	45,510	60.9%	10	7	17
	African National Congress	9,893	9,872	19,765	26.4%	4	3	7
	Independent Civic Organisation	1,908	1,764	3,672	4.9%	0	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	1,265	1,335	2,600	3.5%	0	1	1
	African Christian Democratic Party	855	799	1,654	2.2%	0	1	1
	Economic Freedom Fighters	460	456	916	1.2%	0	0	0
	D'Almeida Civic Association	135	177	312	0.4%	0	0	0
	Gourikwa Khoisan	98	122	220	0.3%	0	0	0
	Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners	27	65	92	0.1%	0	0	0
	South Africa Civics	5	26	31	0.0%	0	0	0
Total		37,454	37,318	74,772		14	13	27
Valid votes		37,454	37,318	74,772	98.9%
Spoilt votes		335	463	798	1.1%
Total votes cast		37,789	37,781	75,570
Voter turnout		37,789
Registered voters		59,270
Turnout percentage		63.8%

Mossel Bay sends four representatives to the council of the Garden Route District Municipality: three from the Democratic Alliance and one from the African National Congress.[9]

Mayors

• Marie Ferreira (March 2006 - Present) (Democratic Alliance)

Low crime rates

In 2007, crime figures revealed that Mossel Bay recorded the lowest in the country for crime figures. Between August 2006 and July 2007, there were no murders, hijackings, or business robberies. The low unemployment rate has been cited as a factor for the low crime rates.[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. "Mossel Bay Local Municipality". Census 2011.
5. Sum of the Main Places KwaNonqaba, Mossel Bay, Isinyoka and Asazani from Census 2011.
6. "Results Summary – All Ballots: Mossel Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
7. "Seat Calculation Detail: Mossel Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
8. "Voter Turnout Report: Mossel Bay" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
9. "Political composition of councils February 2017" (PDF). Western Cape Department of Local Government. February 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
10. "Mossel Bay the safest place to visit". IOL. 2000-07-12.

External links

• Official website