Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (Afrikaans: Nelson Mandelabaai Metropolitaanse Munisipaliteit) is one of eight metropolitan municipalities (also called Category A municipalities) in South Africa. It is located on the shores of Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape Province and comprises the city of Port Elizabeth, the nearby towns of Uitenhage and Despatch, and the surrounding rural area.

Nelson Mandela Bay
Metropolitan municipality
Seal
Location in the Eastern Cape
Coordinates: 33°57′S 25°36′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
Seat	Port Elizabeth
Wards	60
Government
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Thsonono Buyeye (interim) (AIC)
Area
• Total	1,959 km^2 (756 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	1,152,115
• Density	590/km^2 (1,500/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	60.1%
• Coloured	23.6%
• Indian/Asian	1.1%
• White	14.4%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Xhosa	53.9%
• Afrikaans	29.3%
• English	13.5%
• Other	3.3%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	NMA

The name "Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality" was chosen to honour former President Nelson Mandela.

History

In 2001, the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality was formed as an administrative area covering Port Elizabeth, the neighbouring towns of Uitenhage and Despatch and the surrounding agricultural areas.

Demographics and statistics

Geographical distribution of home languages in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro

  Afrikaans

  English

  Xhosa

  No language dominant

As of the census of 2001,[2] there are 1,005,776 people and 260,798 households in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. The official estimate of population in 2007 was 1,050,930.

In the 2007 census, 60.4% of respondents described themselves as Black African, 22.6% Coloured, 16.1% White and 0.9% Indian/Asian.

The largest religious groupings are Christian (89.4% of residents), no religion (6.1%), Muslim (1.5%), Jewish (0.4%) and Hindu (0.3%).

57.3% of the residents speak Xhosa as their mother tongue. Afrikaans is the mother tongue of 29.7%, and English, 12.1%.

• 16.0% of all households are single-person.
• The average household size is 3.86.
• The median age is 26 years.
• For every 100 females there are 91.2 males.
• 28.2% of the population aged 15–65 is unemployed.
• The median annual income of working adults aged 15–65 is ZAR 21 837 ($3,282).

According to the 2009 edition of the municipality's 2006–2011 Integrated Development Plan, manufacturing is the single largest contributor to the local economy (33%), followed by community services (27%). Tourism represents a key sector of the economy that has increasingly contributed to job creation in recent years, thanks in large part to the municipality's seaside location and its abundance of unspoiled beaches, of which four carry Blue Flag status.[3]

100% of households have access to a source of water within a 200 m radius. 91% of households have access to a basic level of sanitation. 100% of households within the urban boundary have access to a basic level of solid waste removal, and 97% of households in formally demarcated municipal residential areas have access to a basic level of electricity. The municipality has 41 permanent and satellite clinics, 13 mobile clinics, eight hospitals, 22 libraries, 31 community and municipal halls, 79 sports facilities, 19 beaches, 18 pools, 273 schools, one university (the Nelson Mandela University), four technical colleges and two Further Education and Training institutions.[3]

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[4]

Place	Code	Area (km^2)	Population	Most spoken language
Beachview	27501	0.78	500	Afrikaans
Bethelsdorp	27502	77.64	134,617	Afrikaans
Blue Horizon Bay	27503	2.74	409	Afrikaans
Cannonvale	27504	0.69	196	Afrikaans
Colchester	27505	1.28	743	Afrikaans
Despatch	27506	38.75	25,086	Afrikaans
Gqebera	27507	1.90	16,686	Xhosa
Ibhayi	27508	23.69	255,826	Xhosa
Kabah	27509	1.68	3,282	Afrikaans
Khaya Mnandi	27510	0.82	5,379	Xhosa
KwaLanga	27511	0.70	8,196	Xhosa
KwaDwesi	27512	5.10	17,733	Xhosa
KwaNobuhle	27513	15.34	87,585	Xhosa
Motherwell	27514	29.52	117,319	Xhosa
Port Elizabeth	27516	335.30	237,500	Afrikaans
Seaview	27517	1.60	732	English
Uitenhage	27518	84.77	71,666	Afrikaans
Woodridge	27519	0.56	270	Xhosa
Young Park	27520	0.52	762	Afrikaans
Remainder of the municipality	27515	1,328.77	21,281	Xhosa

Government

See also: List of mayors of Nelson Mandela Bay (in French)

The municipal council consists of one hundred and twenty members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Sixty councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in sixty wards, while the remaining sixty are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.

The council was dominated by the African National Congress (ANC) since its inception in 2000 until 2016. In the most recent election on 3 August 2016, the ANC lost its majority and the Democratic Alliance (DA) became the biggest party with 57 seats. This was however 4 seats short of a majority. On 17 August 2016, the DA announced a coalition government with the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), the Congress of the People (COPE), and the United Democratic Movement (UDM).[5] The UDM later withdrew, and were replaced by the Patriotic Alliance (PA).

In August 2018, DA councillor Victor Manyati abstained from supporting his party's speaker, Jonathan Lawack. Lawack was removed from his position by 60 votes to 59. The DA and its supporters then left the council, and in their absence, the UDM's candidate Mongameli Bobani was elected mayor, with 61 votes in favour and zero against.[6] Bobani appointed a mayoral committee consisting almost entirely of ANC members. Bobani was ousted as mayor on 4 December 2019. Thsonono Buyeye of the AIC is his interim successor.[7]

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

Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	Democratic Alliance	177,920	177,551	355,471	46.7	24	33	57
	African National Congress	153,496	157,920	311,416	40.9	35	15	50
	Economic Freedom Fighters	19,819	19,132	38,951	5.1	1	5	6
	United Democratic Movement	7,600	6,969	14,569	1.9	0	2	2
	African Independent Congress	1,078	6,144	7,222	1.0	0	1	1
	United Front of the Eastern Cape	4,133	3,048	7,181	0.9	0	1	1
	Independent	7,142	–	7,142	0.9	0	0	0
	Congress of the People	2,929	2,658	5,587	0.7	0	1	1
	African Christian Democratic Party	1,399	1,313	2,712	0.4	0	1	1
	Patriotic Alliance	930	1,110	2,040	0.3	0	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	976	941	1,917	0.3	0	0	0
	Christian Democratic Party	1,254	133	1,386	0.2	0	0	0
	Pan Africanist Congress	447	862	1,309	0.2	0	0	0
	Alternative Democrats	287	942	1,229	0.2	0	0	0
	African People's Convention	142	591	733	0.1	0	0	0
	Independent Civic Organisation	256	467	723	0.1	0	0	0
	Azanian People's Organisation	303	358	661	0.1	0	0	0
	Ubuntu Party	165	143	308	0.0	0	0	0
	African Power Movement	150	96	246	0.0	0	0	0
	Building a Cohesive Society	123	111	234	0.0	0	0	0
Total		380,548	380,489	761,037	100.0	60	60	120
Spoilt votes		6,954	6,569	13,523

See also

• Algoa Bay
• Port Elizabeth
• Coega
• Uitenhage

References

1. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
2. "Census 2001 home page". Statistics South Africa. Archived from the original on 12 December 2005.
3. "Integrated Development Plan 2006–2011 of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, 8th edition". Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
4. Lookup Tables – Statistics South Africa
5. "DA locks down Nelson Mandela Bay with multi-party coalition". Retrieved 18 August 2016.
6. "UDM's Mongameli Bobani elected new mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay". IOL News. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
7. Kimberley, Michael; Nkosi, Nomazima (5 December 2019). "JUST IN: Mongameli Bobani voted out as mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay". HeraldLIVE. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
8. "Results Summary – All Ballots: Nelson Mandela Bay" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
9. "Seat Calculation Detail: Nelson Mandela Bay" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 17 August 2016.

External links

• Official website of the municipality
• Official tourism website of the municipality