Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality

Karoo Hoogland Municipality (Afrikaans: Karoo Hoogland Munisipaliteit) is a local municipality within the Namakwa District Municipality, in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The municipality incorporates the towns of Williston, Fraserburg and Sutherland. Although the towns are separated by more than 100 km by road, they share many administrative tasks.

Karoo Hoogland
Local municipality
Official seal of Karoo Hoogland
Seal
Location in the Northern Cape
Location in the Northern Cape
Coordinates: 31°45′S 21°15′E
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceNorthern Cape
DistrictNamakwa
SeatWilliston
Wards6
Government
[1]
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorJohan van der Colff (DA)
Area
 • Total32,274 km2 (12,461 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total12,588
 • Density0.39/km2 (1.0/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[2]
 • Black African5.5%
 • Coloured78.9%
 • Indian/Asian0.7%
 • White14.6%
First languages (2011)
[3]
 • Afrikaans96.3%
 • English1.3%
 • Other2.4%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeNC066

Hoogland is an Afrikaans word meaning "highland" and Karoo is a Khoekhoe word meaning "hard" or "dry". The name reflects the area which has dry, arid and desert-like conditions.[4]

In 2011, Karoo Hoogland elected the first mayor from the Congress of the People (COPE) party, Jan Julies, and a COPE-DA coalition took control of the council after the election of 18 May 2011.[5] This lasted until the 2016 elections.

Main places

The 2011 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[6]

PlaceCodeArea (km2)Population
Fraserburg36700398.93,029
Sutherland36700436.02,836
Williston36700177.93,368
Remainder36700232,061.13,356
Total32,273.912,588

Politics
Main article: Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of eleven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Six councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in six wards, while the remaining five 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 1 November 2021 no party obtained a majority of seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.[7][8]

Karoo Hoogland local election, 1 November 2021
PartyVotesSeats
WardListTotal %WardListTotal
African National Congress 1,8151,8033,61840.8%325
Democratic Alliance 1,3371,3352,67230.2%303
Patriotic Alliance 9629941,95622.1%022
Freedom Front Plus 2292254545.1%011
Congress of the People 42601021.2%000
Economic Freedom Fighters 2929580.7%000
Total 4,4144,4468,8606511
Valid votes 4,4144,4468,86098.7%
Spoilt votes 64571211.3%
Total votes cast 4,4784,5038,981
Voter turnout 4,507
Registered voters 7,250
Turnout percentage 62.2%

On 8 December 2022 the PA/ANC coalition collapsed during a no confidence motion brought by the DA. Consequently the PA mayor Anthony Mietas was replaced by the DA’s Johan van der Colff.[9]

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. South African Languages - Place names
  5. "First COPE mayor sworn in". IOL. Sapa. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  6. "Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality". Census 2011.
  7. "Results Summary - All Ballots" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  8. "Seat Calculation Detail" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  9. Cruywagen, Vincent (8 December 2022). "MUNICIPAL POLITICS: Another coalition crumbles as Patriotic Alliance mayor and Speaker are deposed in Karoo Hoogland". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
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