George Municipality ( af, George Munisipaliteit; xh, uMasipala wase Joji) is a municipality located in the

Western Cape Province The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. the population is 193,672. Its municipality code is WC044.

Geography

The municipality covers an area of in the

Garden Route The Garden Route (Afrikaans: ''Tuinroete'') is a stretch of the south-eastern coast of South Africa which extends from Witsand in the Western Cape to the border of Tsitsikamma Storms River in the Eastern Cape. The name comes from the verdant a ...

and

Little Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its e ...

regions. It includes the coastal plateau around the city of

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, and extends northeast over the

Outeniqua Mountains The Outeniqua Mountains, named after the Outeniqua Khoikhoi who lived there, is a mountain range that runs a parallel to the southern coast of South Africa, and forms a continuous range with the Langeberg to the west and the Tsitsikamma Mountai ...

to include the eastern end of the Little Karoo as far as the

Swartberg The Swartberg mountains (''black mountain'' in Afrikaans) are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Ka ...

mountains and the boundary with the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in 199 ...

province. It abuts on the Mossel Bay Municipality to the west, the Oudtshoorn Municipality to the northwest, the Dr Beyers Naudé Municipality to the northeast, the

Kou-Kamma Municipality The Kou-Kamma Municipality is a local municipality in South Africa. It is situated in the southwest corner of the Sarah Baartman District Municipality along the Indian Ocean coastline, in the southwestern sector of South Africa's Eastern Cape P ...

to the east, and the Bitou and

Knysna Knysna () is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. and is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It lies at 34° 2' 6.3168'' S and 23° 2' 47 ...

Municipalities to the southeast. According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 193,672 people in 53,551 households. Of this population, 50.4% describe themselves as "

Coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

", 28.2% as "

Black African Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in ...

", and 19.7% as "

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

". The

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

of 67.2% of the population is

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans grad ...

, while 21.7% speak

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language Xhosa (, ) also isiXhosa as an endonym, is a Nguni language and one of the official language ...

and 8.1% speak

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. The majority of the residents of the municipality are in the city of George, which as of 2011 has a population of 157,394.Sum of the Main Place
George
an
Thembalethu
from Census 2011. Close to George are the coastal resorts of

Herolds Bay Herolds Bay is a settlement in Garden Route District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Holiday resort west of Malgas River mouth, some 24km south-west of George and east of Guano Bay. Named after the first Dutch Reformed ...

(pop. 704) and

Wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

(pop. 6,164).

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

(pop. 2,376) and Uniondale (pop. 4,525) are in the interior of the municipality at the top of the

Langkloof The Langkloof is a 160 km long valley in South Africa, lying between Herold, a small village northeast of George, and The Heights - just beyond Twee Riviere. History The kloof was given its name by Isaq Schrijver in 1689, and more thoroug ...

History

At the end of the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid wa ...

era, the area that is today the George Municipality was divided between two Regional Services Councils (RSCs): the coastal area around

and

formed part of the South Cape RSC, while the interior area north of the Outeniqua Mountains formed part of the Klein Karoo RSC. The town of George was governed by a municipal council elected by its

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

residents, while

coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

residents of George were governed by a management committee subordinate to the white council. There was a separate municipal council in neighbouring

Pacaltsdorp Pacaltsdorp is a suburb of George, Western Cape. In the Apartheid era, it was the coloured township associated with George but administrated independently. The N2 highway provided the natural boundary between the two, enforced by a curfew. The mis ...

where, uniquely amongst

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

municipalities,

voters retained the right to vote.

Thembalethu Thembalethu is a township in Western Cape, South Africa. The township is on the Garden Route and falls part of the George Municipality. The name of the township "Thembalethu" is Xhosa meaning "Our Hope". History During the 19th and 20th centu ...

was governed by a town council established under the Black Local Authorities Act, 1982. In the Wilderness area there were three local councils for

proper, Wilderness Heights, and Hoekwil.

was also governed by a local council. In the Langkloof, the white voters of Uniondale elected a local council while the coloured voters elected a management committee, and the former mission settlement of

was governed by a board of management. While the negotiations to end apartheid were taking place a process was established for local authorities to agree on voluntary mergers. In September 1992 the Municipality of George and the George Management Committee merged to form a single municipal council. In July 1993 a further agreement incorporated the Herolds Bay Local Council into the Municipality of George. After the national elections of 1994 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. * Wilderness TLC replaced the local councils of Wilderness, Wilderness Heights and Hoekwil in January 1995. * Uniondale TLC replaced the Uniondale Local Council and Management Committee in January 1995. * Haarlem TLC replaced the Haarlem Management Board in January 1995. * George TLC replaced the municipalities of George and Pacaltsdorp as well as Thembalethu Town Council in February 1995. 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 Regional Services Councils were replaced by District Councils (DCs), and transitional representative councils (TRCs) were elected to represent rural areas outside the TLCs on the DCs. The area that is today the George Municipality included part of the Outeniqua TRC under the South Cape DC, and the Uniondale TRC and most of the Bo-Langkloof TRC under the Klein Karoo DC. At the local elections of December 2000 the transitional councils were dissolved. The South Cape and Klein Karoo DCs were replaced by the Eden District Municipality. George Municipality was established as a single local authority to govern the coastal area, while the interior area north of the Outeniqua Mountains became a District Management Area (DMA) of the Eden District. In 2011 this area was incorporated into George Municipality when District Management Areas were abolished. Also in 2011 the Hoogekraal Plantation area north of

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered b ...

was transferred from George Municipality to Knysna Municipality.

Politics

The municipal council consists of fifty-three members elected by

mixed-member proportional representation Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...

. Twenty-seven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-seven

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, while the remaining twenty-six are chosen from

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

s 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 DA did, however, win the largest amount of seats. The DA then formed a majority coalition government with the

Freedom Front Plus The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus; af, Vryheidsfront Plus, ''VF Plus'') is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed (as the Freedom Front) in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald. Its current stated policy positions include ab ...

(FF Plus) and the

African Christian Democratic Party African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

(ACDP) to govern the municipality. The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.

References

External links

* http://www.george.org.za/ {{Municipalities of the Western Cape Local municipalities of the Garden Route District Municipality