Swartland Local Municipality


Swartland Municipality is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Malmesbury is the seat of the municipality. As of 2016, it had a population of 133,762. Its municipality code is WC015.

Geography

The municipality covers an area of, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Berg River in the east. To the south it abuts on the City of Cape Town, to the east the Drakenstein Municipality, and to the north the Bergrivier Municipality and Saldanha Bay Municipality.
According to the the municipality has a population of 133,762 people in 39,139 households. Of this population, 65.1% describe themselves as "Coloured", 15.7% as "Black African", and 18.6% as "White". The first language of 78.13% of the population is Afrikaans, while 12.34% speak Xhosa, 5.14% speak English and 1.20% speak Sotho.
The principal town and seat of the council is Malmesbury, which is situated in the south-east of the municipality and has a population of 25,176. Other large towns are Moorreesburg to the north, and Darling to the west. In the Riebeek Valley north-east of Malmesbury are the sister towns of Riebeek-Kasteel and Riebeek West.
In the vicinity of Malmesbury there are the smaller villages of Abbotsdale, Chatsworth, Kalbaskraal and Riverlands, while in the vicinity of Moorreesburg are found the villages of Klipfontyn and 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, wholesale and retail trade, catering and accommodation, agriculture, forestry and fishing and general government.

Politics

The municipal council consists of twenty-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twelve councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twelve wards, while the remaining eleven 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 obtained a majority of sixteen seats on the council.
The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.
The local council sends four representatives to the council of the West Coast District Municipality: three from the Democratic Alliance and one from the African National Congress.