City of Cape Town
City of Cape Town
Stad Kaapstad ( | |
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City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality | |
UTC+2 (SAST ) | |
Municipal code | CPT |
The City of Cape Town (
History
Cape Town first received local self-government in 1839, with the promulgation of a municipal ordinance by the government of the Cape Colony.[5] When it was created, the Cape Town municipality governed only the central part of the city known as the City Bowl, and as the city expanded, new suburbs became new municipalities, until by 1902 there were 10 separate municipalities in the Cape Peninsula.[6] During the 20th century, many of the inner suburban municipalities became unsustainable; in 1913 the first major unification took place when the municipalities of Cape Town, Green Point and Sea Point, Woodstock, Mowbray, Rondebosch, Claremont, Maitland, and Kalk Bay were unified to create the first City of Cape Town. In 1927 the municipality of Wynberg was also merged with Cape Town, with the result that all of the Southern Suburbs were incorporated into the City.
Many new municipalities were established during the 20th century.
In earlier years the right to vote in local elections was not restricted by race (see
In 1982 the Black Local Authorities Act created elected town councils for black communities. Five such councils were established in the Cape metropolitan areas. They were generally regarded as under-resourced and unsustainable, and were opposed by the United Democratic Front and other civic organisations. Turnout in BLA elections was very low.
In 1987 the divisional councils of the Cape, Paarl and Stellenbosch were dissolved and the Western Cape Regional Services Council (RSC) was created in their place. The RSC councils were indirectly elected, consisting of representatives nominated by all the local authorities within its area, including municipalities, management committees and town councils. The Cape Rural Council represented the rural areas of the RSC that were not included in any local authority. Also in 1987, an act of the
Thus at the end of apartheid in 1994, there were over 50 different local authorities in existence in the metropolitan area, listed below.[8]
- Western Cape Regional Services Council (RSC)
- Cape Rural Council
- Cities
- City of Cape Town
- City of Bellville
- Municipalities
- Brackenfell Municipality
- Durbanville Municipality
- Fish Hoek Municipality
- Goodwood Municipality
- Gordon's Bay Municipality
- Kraaifontein Municipality
- Kuils River Municipality
- Milnerton Municipality
- ParowMunicipality
- Pinelands Municipality
- Simon's Town Municipality
- Somerset West Municipality
- Strand Municipality
- Management Committees (indicating in brackets the local authority to which they were subordinated)
- Athlone and District MC (City of Cape Town)
- AtlantisMC (RSC)
- Belhar MC (RSC)
- Cravenby MC (RSC)
- Elsie's River MC (RSC)
- Grassy Park MC (RSC)
- Kensington MC (City of Cape Town)
- Kraaifontein MC (Kraaifontein Municipality)
- Macassar MC (RSC)
- Matroosfontein/Nooitgedacht MC (RSC)
- DelftMC (RSC)
- Mitchells Plain MC (City of Cape Town)
- Morningstar MC (Durbanville Municipality)
- Ocean View MC (RSC)
- Proteaville MC (City of Bellville)
- Ravensmead MC (Parow Municipality)
- Retreat/Steenberg MC (City of Cape Town)
- Rylands Estate MC (City of Cape Town)
- Sarepta MC (Kuils River Municipality)
- Schotschekloof MC (City of Cape Town)
- Scottsdene MC (RSC)
- Sir Lowry's Pass MC (RSC)
- Strand MC (Strand Municipality)
- Strandfontein MC (City of Cape Town)
- Temperance Town MC (Gordon's Bay Municipality)
- Wittebome/Wynberg MC (City of Cape Town)
- Woodstock/Walmer Estate/Salt River MC (City of Cape Town)
- Town Councils
- Crossroads Town Council
- iKapa Town Council ()
- Lingelethu West Town Council (Khayelitsha)
- Lwandle Town Council
- Mfuleni Town Council
- Local Councils
- AtlantisIndustria LC
- Bloubergstrand LC
- Constantia LC
- Kommetjie LC
- Llandudno LC
- Melkbosstrand LC
- NoordhoekLC
- Ottery East LC
- Scarborough LC
- MamreBoard of Management
As part of the post-1994 reforms, municipal government experienced a complete overhaul. The existing local authorities, political parties, ratepayers' organisations, and community organisations were brought together into a negotiating forum. This forum agreed on the creation of a two-level local government system consisting of multiple transitional metropolitan substructures (TMSs), brought together in a transitional metropolitan council named the Cape Metropolitan Council (CMC). The CMC would replace the Regional Services Council and take over its responsibilities; it would also be responsible for metro-level planning and co-ordination, improving service delivery in disadvantaged areas, and cross-subsidization of poorer areas with revenue from affluent areas. Initially, in a period called the "pre-interim phase", the existing local authorities would become TMSs but their councils would be replaced by councillors nominated by the members of the negotiating forum. This agreement came into effect, and the pre-interim phase began, on 1 February 1995.
The second phase of the transformation, known as the "interim phase" began on 29 May 1996 when local elections were held. The pre-interim TMSs were dissolved, and six new TMSs were established covering the whole metropolitan area: City of Cape Town (Central), City of Tygerberg, South Peninsula Municipality, Blaauwberg Municipality, Oostenberg Municipality, and Helderberg Municipality. The Cape Metropolitan Council continued with its coordinating functions.
In 1998 Parliament enacted legislation (the Municipal Structures Act) determining the final form of local government in post-apartheid South Africa. This legislation determined that metropolitan areas would be governed by unified
The current municipality covers
-
The situation in 1994, with a large variety of different local authorities divided on the basis of race.
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The "pre-interim phase" (1995–96), in which local authorities were transformed into Transitional Metropolitan Substructures under the Cape Metropolitan Council (CMC).
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The "interim phase" (1996–2000), in which the metropolitan area was divided into six municipalities under the CMC.
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The formation of the Unicity at the end of 2000, replacing the municipalities and the CMC.
Politics and government
Council
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of the Western Cape |
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Cape Town is governed by a 231-member city council elected in a system of
The makeup of the council after the 2021 election is shown in the following table.[10][11]
Party | Ward | PR list | Total | Percentage of council seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic Alliance | 83 | 52 | 135 | 58.4% | |
African National Congress | 33 | 10 | 43 | 18.6% | |
Economic Freedom Fighters | 0 | 10 | 10 | 4.3% | |
Good | 0 | 9 | 9 | 3.9% | |
Cape Coloured Congress
|
0 | 7 | 7 | 3.0% | |
African Christian Democratic Party | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2.6% | |
Freedom Front Plus | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1.7% | |
Patriotic Alliance
|
0 | 4 | 4 | 1.7% | |
Al Jama-ah | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1.3% | |
Cape Independence Party | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.9% | |
Africa Restoration Alliance | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.9% | |
United Independent Movement | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.4% | |
Cape Muslim Congress | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.4% | |
United Democratic Movement | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.4% | |
African Independent Congress | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.4% | |
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.4% | |
Democratic Independent Party | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.4% | |
Total | 116 | 115 | 231 | 100.0% |
The speaker of the council is Felicity Purchase of the Democratic Alliance.[12]
The council is divided into 24
Executive
The executive authority for the city is vested in an Executive Mayor who is elected by the council. The mayor appoints a mayoral committee whose members oversee various portfolios. A City Manager is appointed as the non-political head of the city's administration.
With the Democratic Alliance (DA) having won an absolute majority of council seats in the election of 1 November 2021, its mayoral candidate Geordin Hill-Lewis, who had been a Member of Parliament since 2011, was elected.[15]
The Mayoral Committee consists of 10 members who are appointed by the Executive Mayor. Each member manages a different area of the local government.
The current city manager is Lungelo Mbandazayo. He had been the acting city manager since the former city manager Achmat Ebrahim, who was appointed in April 2006, resigned in January 2018 amid misconduct allegations. He was formally appointed city manager in April 2018.[16]
The local municipality was one of the four to have passed the 2009-10 audit by the
Electoral history
The City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality in its present form took shape after the 2000 municipal elections. The old Central Cape Town MLC council had been governed by the
In the
In 2010, the DA and ID formalized an agreement in which the ID would merge into the DA by 2014. This was prompted in part by the ID's disappointing result in the 2009 general election. As per the agreement, ID ceased to exist at the local level after the 2011 municipal elections with ID members running as DA candidates. DA won a large outright majority in the election, and ID leader Patricia de Lille, who had defeated Plato in an earlier internal election, became the new mayor. The party extended its lead even further to win a two-thirds majority of the seats on the City of Cape Town council in the 2016 municipal elections, and De Lille was thus sworn in to serve a second term. It was however cut short following her resignation on 31 October 2018 after an extended battle with her party over accusations of covering up corruption, accusations she strongly denied. The previous mayor Dan Plato was chosen as her successor.
The DA's Geordin Hill-Lewis was voted in as mayor after the 2021 local government elections.[15] The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.[20][10][21]
Party | Ward | List | Total seats | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
Independent candidates | 9,910 | 1.09 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Cape Muslim Congress | 3,239 | 0.36 | 0 | 3,355 | 0.37 | 1 | 1 | |
United Democratic Movement | 2,477 | 0.27 | 0 | 3,105 | 0.34 | 1 | 1 | |
African Independent Congress | 2,861 | 0.31 | 0 | 2,596 | 0.28 | 1 | 1 | |
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania | 1,821 | 0.20 | 0 | 2,729 | 0.30 | 1 | 1 | |
Democratic Independent Party | 1,910 | 0.21 | 0 | 1,653 | 0.18 | 1 | 1 | |
36 other parties | 14,473 | 1.59 | 0 | 19,589 | 2.14 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 909,509 | 100.00 | 116 | 913,444 | 100.00 | 115 | 231 | |
Valid votes | 909,509 | 98.86 | 913,444 | 98.85 | ||||
Invalid/blank votes | 10,485 | 1.14 | 10,665 | 1.15 | ||||
Total votes | 919,994 | 100.00 | 924,109 | 100.00 | ||||
Registered voters/turnout | 1,973,708 | 46.61 | 1,973,708 | 46.82 |
By-elections from November 2021
The following
Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
13 October 2022[23] | 5 | Democratic Alliance | Democratic Alliance |
Demographics
Group | 2001 Census | Proportion of population | 2011 Census | Proportion of population | Change | Change in proportion of population |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coloured | 1,391,859 | 48.12% | 1,585,286 | 42.39% | 193,427 | 5.73% |
Black African | 916,459 | 31.69% | 1,444,939 | 38.63% | 528,480 | 6.94% |
White
|
542,435 | 18.75% | 585,831 | 15.66% | 43,396 | 3.09% |
Indian or Asian
|
41,490 | 1.43% | 51,786 | 1.38% | 10,296 | 0.05% |
Other | n/a | – | 72,184 | 1.93% | n/a | n/a |
Total population | 2,892,243 | 100.00% | 3,740,026 | 100.00% | 847,783 |
Geography
The municipality has a total area of 2455 km2.[24]
Subdivision varies according to purpose. Main places for census purposes may differ from planning districts.[25][26]
Main places
The
Place | Code | Population | Most spoken language |
---|---|---|---|
Atlantis |
17101 | 53,820 | Afrikaans |
Bellville |
17102 | 89,732 | Afrikaans |
Blue Downs | 17103 | 150,431 | Afrikaans |
Brackenfell | 17104 | 78,005 | Afrikaans |
Briza | 17105 | 1,959 | English |
Cape Town | 17106 | 827,218 | Afrikaans |
Crossroads |
17108 | 31,527 | Xhosa |
Dunoon | 17109 | 9,045 | Xhosa |
Durbanville | 17110 | 40,135 | Afrikaans |
Eerste River | 17111 | 29,682 | Afrikaans |
Elsie's River | 17112 | 86,685 | Afrikaans |
Excelsior | 17113 | 189 | Afrikaans |
Fisantekraal | 17114 | 4,646 | Afrikaans |
Fish Hoek | 17115 | 15,851 | English |
Goodwood |
17116 | 48,128 | English |
Gordons Bay |
17117 | 2,751 | Afrikaans |
Guguletu |
17118 | 80,277 | Xhosa |
Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve |
17119 | 18 | Xhosa |
Hout Bay | 17120 | 13,253 | English |
Imizamo Yethu | 17121 | 8,063 | Xhosa |
Joe Slovo Park | 17122 | 4,567 | Xhosa |
Khayelitsha | 17123 | 329,002 | Xhosa |
Kraaifontein | 17124 | 57,911 | Afrikaans |
Kuilsriver |
17125 | 44,780 | Afrikaans |
Langa |
17126 | 49,667 | Xhosa |
Lekkerwater | 17127 | 1,410 | Xhosa |
Lwandle | 17128 | 9,311 | Xhosa |
Mamre |
17129 | 7,276 | Afrikaans |
Masiphumelele | 17130 | 8,249 | Xhosa |
Melkbosstrand | 17131 | 6,522 | Afrikaans |
Mfuleni | 17132 | 22,883 | Xhosa |
Milnerton | 17133 | 81,366 | English |
Mitchell's Plain |
17134 | 398,650 | Afrikaans |
Nomzamo | 17135 | 22,083 | Xhosa |
Noordhoek | 17136 | 3,127 | English |
Nyanga |
17137 | 58,723 | Xhosa |
Parow | 17138 | 77,439 | Afrikaans |
Pella | 17139 | 1,044 | Afrikaans |
Robben Island | 17140 | 176 | Afrikaans |
Scarborough |
17141 | 723 | English |
Simon's Town | 17142 | 7,210 | English |
Sir Lowry's Pass Village | 17143 | 5,766 | Afrikaans |
Somerset West | 17144 | 60,606 | Afrikaans |
Strand | 17145 | 46,446 | Afrikaans |
Witsand | 17146 | 2,405 | Xhosa |
Remainder of the municipality | 17107 | 14,498 | Afrikaans |
Planning districts
The planning districts are:[25]
- Blaauwberg, which includes subdistricts: Atlantis, Blouberg, Mamre, Melkboschstrand, Table View, and parts of Cape Farms, Goodwood, Milnerton, and Maitland.
- Cape Flats, which includes subdistricts: Athlone, False Bay Coastal Park, Grassy Park, Guguletu, Hanover Park, Manenberg, Ottery, Pelican Park, and parts of Muizenberg, Retreat, and Rondebosch.
- Helderberg, which includes subdistricts: Gordon's Bay, Macassar, Sir Lowry's Pass, Somerset West, Stellenbosch Farms and Strand.
- Khayelitsha/Mitchells Plain, which includes subdistricts: Blackheath, Blue Downs, Eerste River, Khayelitsha, Mitchell's Plain, and part of Guguletu
- Northern, which includes subdistricts: Brackenfell, Durbanville, Eversdal, Joostenbergvlakte, Kenridge, Kraaifontein, Malmesbury Farms, Vredekloof, and Welgemoed.
- Southern, which includes subdistricts: Bergvliet, Cape Point, Constantia, Fish Hoek, Hout Bay, Kalk Bay, Kommetjie, Newlands, Noordhoek, Ocean View, Plumstead, Simon's Town, Tokai, Wynberg, parts of Muizenberg, Retreat, Rondebosch, and Table Mountain.
- Table Bay, which includes subdistricts: Camps Bay, Cape Town, Observatory, Pinelands, Robben Island, Sea Point, Signal Hill/Lion's Head, and parts of Epping, Goodwood, Langa, Maitland, and Table Mountain,
- Tygerberg, which includes subdistricts: Airport, Bellville, Bishop Lavis, Delft, Elsies River, Kalsteenfontein, Kuils River, Parow, Plattekloof, and parts of Epping, Goodwood, and Milnerton.
Adjacent municipalities
- Swartland Local Municipality, West Coast District Municipality (north)
- Drakenstein Local Municipality, Cape Winelands District Municipality (northeast)
- Stellenbosch Local Municipality, Cape Winelands District Municipality (northeast)
- Theewaterskloof Local Municipality, Overberg District Municipality (east)
- Overstrand Local Municipality, Overberg District Municipality (southeast)
The City of Cape Town is also bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the south and west.
See also
- Biodiversity of Cape Town – Diversity of the natural environment of Cape Town
- Cape Town – Legislative capital of South Africa
- Metropolitan municipality (South Africa) – Second-level local government structure in South Africa
- List of Cape Town suburbs
- Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign – Movement in Cape Town, South Africa
- Cape Town water crisis – 2017–2018 water shortage in South Africa
References
- ^ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
- ^ Community Survey 2016: Provincial profile: Western Cape (PDF) (Report). Statistics South Africa. 2018. p. 7.
- ^ a b "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ Community Survey 2016: Provincial profile: Western Cape (PDF) (Report). Statistics South Africa. 2018. p. 7.
- ISBN 90-6550-161-4.
- ISBN 90-6550-161-4.
- ISBN 978-1-868425-49-5.
- ^ The Cape Metropolitan Enactment, 1995 (Western Cape Proclamation No. 18 of 1995, published in Provincial Gazette No. 4929 on 6 February 1995) lists 59 local authorities dissolved on the creation of the Cape Metropolitan Council and the transitional metropolitan substructures.
- ^ "City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality". lgbn.co.za (Local Government Business Network). Retrieved 22 March 2019.
- ^ a b "Seat Calculation Detail: City of Cape Town" (PDF). IEC. Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ Staff Reporter. "Vote recount: Cape Independence Party gets another seat in Metro". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Charles, Marvin. "City of Cape Town council elects Felicity Purchase as new Speaker". News24. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ Cape Town Sub-council By-law, 2003, as amended.
- ^ "Subcouncils". City of Cape Town. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
- ^ a b "WATCH: Geordin Hill-Lewis officially becomes Cape Town's youngest mayor after council vote". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
- ^ "City of Cape Town announces new city manager | News24". Archived from the original on 15 August 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
- ^ "Auditor-General urges South Africa's mayors to lead the drive towards clean administration by 2014". Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ^ "Seat Calculation Summary: City of Cape Town" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2006.
- ^ "Cllr. Grant Haskin elected as deputy executive mayor". City of Cape Town. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012.
- ^ "Results Summary – All Ballots: City of Cape Town" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ "Voter Turnout Report: City of Cape Town" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ "Municipal By-elections results". Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ Sussman, Wayne (13 October 2022). "OCTOBER BY-ELECTIONS: DA doctor beats mayor Farmer in Cederberg, while IFP flips the script in southern KwaZulu-Natal". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ "City of Cape Town". Municipal Demarcation Board. Retrieved 19 October 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b "Find your District: Planning District Boundaries" (PDF). resource.capetown.gov.za. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ "Cape Town: 2011 Census Suburbs (map)" (PDF). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
- ^ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa[permanent dead link]