Swartland Local Municipality

Swartland
Local municipality
UTC+2 (SAST )
Municipal code	WC015

Swartland Municipality (

Its municipality code is WC015.

Geography

The municipality covers an area of 3,707 square kilometres (1,431 sq mi), stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the

.

According to the 2016 Stats SA Community Survey the municipality has a population of 133,762 people in 39,139 households. Of this population, 65.1% describe themselves as "

The principal town and seat of the council is

In the vicinity of Malmesbury there are the smaller villages of Abbotsdale, Chatsworth, and Kalbaskraal, while in the vicinity of Moorreesburg is found the village of Koringberg. Yzerfontein on the Atlantic coast is a fishing village and holiday town.

Economic Base

is the administrative centre of the Municipality and fulfils an important urban niche in the region and the province. Its high development potential can be attributed to factors such as its relative accessibility along the N7 road/rail corridor; closeness to Cape Town; diversified economic base, which not only accommodates agriculture but also well-developed industrial and commercial sectors; and supportive infrastructure. Malmesbury is home to a number of large companies, as well as regional offices of provincial and national government departments.

In 2016 the main contributors to the regional GDP were: Manufacturing (R1,689.0 million or 22.9%), wholesale and retail trade, catering and accommodation (R1,289.2 million or 17.5%), agriculture, forestry and fishing (R1,173.4 million or 15.9%) and general government (R851.0 million or 11.5%).

History

At the end of the

residents of Malmesbury, Moorreesburg, Greenville (Darling), Riebeek-Kasteel and Riebeek West were governed by management committees subordinate to the white councils. The remaining rural areas were served by the West Coast Regional Services Council.

While the negotiations to end apartheid were taking place a process was established for local authorities to negotiate voluntary mergers. Moorreesburg took part in this process, which resulted in the municipality merging with its management committee to form a new non-racial municipality in June 1993.

After the

a process of local government transformation began, in which negotiations were held between the existing local authorities, political parties, and local community organisations. As a result of these negotiations, the existing local authorities were dissolved and transitional local councils (TLCs) were created for each town and village. In December 1994 Darling TLC replaced Darling Municipality and Greenville Management Committee. In January 1995 Malmesbury TLC replaced the municipalities of Malmesbury, Riebeek-Kasteel and Riebeek West, as well as their respective management committees. In the same month Moorreesburg TLC replaced the merged Moorreesburg Municipality. In October 1995 Koringberg Municipality and Yzerfontein Local Council were each converted to TLCs.

The transitional councils were initially made up of members nominated by the various parties to the negotiations, until May 1996 when elections were held. At these elections the West Coast District Council was established, replacing the West Coast Regional Services Council. Transitional representative councils (TRCs) were also elected to represent rural areas outside the TLCs on the District Council; the area that was to become Swartland Municipality included much of the Malmesbury TRC and a small part of the Paarl TRC.

At the

the TLCs and TRCs were dissolved and the Swartland Municipality was established as a single local authority incorporating both rural and urban areas.

Politics

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of the Western Cape
Constitution List of acts of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament
Executive Premier The Hon Alan Winde MMP Provincial Cabinet
Provincial Parliament Western Cape Parliament The Sixth Provincial Parliament Speaker Masizole Mnqasela MMP Deputy Speaker Beverley Schäfer MMP Chief Whip of the Majority Party Mireille Wenger MMP Leader of the Opposition Cameron Dugmore MMP Chief Whip of the Official Opposition Pat Lekker MMP Political Parties DA ANC EFF GOOD ACDP FF+ ALJAMA
Judiciary Western Cape Division
Administrative divisions List of municipalities in the Western Cape
Elections Provincial: 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Municipal: 2000 2006 2011 2016 2021
Related topics Cape Independence Cape Liberal Tradition
Other provinces Politics of the Eastern Cape Politics of the Free State Politics of Gauteng Politics of KwaZulu-Natal Politics of Limpopo Politics of Mpumalanga Politics of the Northern Cape Politics of North West Politics of the Western Cape
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v t e

The municipal council consists of twenty-three members elected by

(DA) obtained a majority of fourteen seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.[11]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Independent candidates	1,052	4.49	0				0
	Economic Freedom Fighters	475	2.03	0	495	2.13	1	1
	9 other parties	884	3.77	0	1,009	4.33	0	0
Total		23,425	100.00	12	23,279	100.00	11	23
Valid votes		23,425	98.89		23,279	98.67
Invalid/blank votes		262	1.11		313	1.33
Total votes		23,687	100.00		23,592	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		49,771	47.59		49,771	47.40

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Facebook Page