Saldanha Bay Local Municipality

Saldanha Bay Saldanhabaai
Local municipality
Official seal of Saldanha Bay Seal
Location in the Western Cape Location in the Western Cape
Coordinates:
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	West Coast
Seat	Vredenburg
Wards	13
Government
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	FJ Schippers (DA)
• Municipal Manager	LA Scheepers
Area
• Total	2,015 km2 (778 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	99,193
• Density	49/km2 (130/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	24.5%
• Coloured	55.8%
• Indian/Asian	0.8%
• White	18.0%
First languages (2011)
• Afrikaans	72.5%
• Xhosa	16.4%
• English	6.6%
• Sotho	1.2%
• Other	3.3%
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)
Municipal code	WC014

Saldanha Bay Municipality is a local municipality located within the West Coast District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2011 it had a population of 99,193. Its municipality code is WC014.

Geography

The municipality covers a total area of 2,015 square kilometres (778 sq mi) which includes the West Coast Peninsula (also known as the Vredenburg Peninsula) and stretches southeast to include the West Coast National Park and the area around Hopefield. It abuts on the Bergrivier Municipality to the north and the Swartland Municipality to the east and south.

According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 99,193 people in 28,835 households. Of this population, 55.8% describe themselves as "Coloured", 24.5% as "Black African", and 18.0% as "White". The first language of 72.5% of the population is Afrikaans, while 16.4% speak Xhosa, 6.6% speak English and 1.2% speak Sotho.

The seat of the municipality and its largest town is Vredenburg, which is situated in the center of the eponymous peninsula and according to the 2011 census has a population of 38,382. To the south of Vredenburg is the harbour town of Saldanha (pop. 28,142) on the edge of Saldanha Bay. There are several other fishing and holiday towns on the coast of the municipality: St Helena Bay (pop. 11,529) on the northern coast of the Vredenburg Peninsula, Paternoster (pop. 1,971) and Jacobsbaai (pop. 416) on the western coast of the peninsula, and Langebaan (pop. 8,297) on the opposite side of Saldanha Bay from Saldanha. In the interior of the municipality is the town of Hopefield (pop. 6,460) and the village and air force base at Langebaanweg (pop. 952).

Politics

The municipal council consists of twenty-five members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirteen wards, while the remaining twelve 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 18 May 2011 the Democratic Alliance (DA) obtained a majority of fifteen seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.

Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	Democratic Alliance	15,937	17,270	33,207	57.3	9	6	15
	African National Congress	8,479	9,271	17,750	30.6	3	5	8
	Independent	3,109	–	3,109	5.4	1	–	1
	Congress of the People	341	397	738	1.3	0	1	1
	Service to Our People's Party	397	330	727	1.3	0	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	228	236	464	0.8	0	0	0
	Liberal People's Party	227	208	435	0.8	0	0	0
	Local Government Party	233	198	431	0.7	0	0	0
	The Peoples Independent Civic Organisation	172	171	343	0.6	0	0	0
	United Democratic Movement	74	178	252	0.4	0	0	0
	South African Political Alliance	110	79	189	0.3	0	0	0
	National People's Party	70	81	151	0.3	0	0	0
	South African Progressive Civic Organisation	59	75	134	0.2	0	0	0
	Cape Party	–	57	57	0.1	–	0	0
Total		29,436	28,551	57,987	100.0	13	12	25
Spoilt votes		445	1,371	1,816

The local council sends four representatives to the council of the West Coast District Municipality: two from the Democratic Alliance and one each from the African National Congress and the Congress of the People.

External links

• Official website
• Saldanha Bay Local Municipality on the Western Cape Government website