Kannaland Municipality ( af, Kannaland Munisipaliteit) is a
local municipality located within the
Garden Route District Municipality
The Garden Route District Municipality ( af, Tuinroete-distriksmunisipaliteit or ''Garden Route Distriksmunisipaliteit''; xh, uMasipala weSithili sase Garden Route; formerly known as the Eden District Municipality) is a district municipality loca ...
in the
Western Cape
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 ...
province of
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 municipal area is situated in the western part of the
Little Karoo
The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hard veld") is a semi- desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ...
and includes the towns of
Ladismith
Ladismith is a town and agricultural centre in the western Little Karoo region of South Africa's Western Cape province.
Geography
It is situated adjacent to a series of fertile, irrigated valleys, at an elevation of 550 m above sea level, at ...
,
Calitzdorp
Calitzdorp is a town on the Western side of the Little or Klein Karoo 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 provi ...
and
Zoar. it has a population of 24,767.
[ Its municipality code is WC041.
]
Geography
The municipality covers an area of in the Little Karoo
The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hard veld") is a semi- desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ...
, stretching from 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 ...
in the north to the Langeberg
The Langeberg Range is a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its highest peak is Keeromsberg at 2,075 m that lies 15 km northeast of the town of Worcester. Some of the highest peaks of the range are located just to ...
in the south, and from the Anysberg
The Anysberg Nature Reserve of 62,500 ha, is situated in the western Little Karoo region of the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve in the Western Cape province, South Africa. The central mountain is named after Anise, ''Pimpinella anisum'', whi ...
in the west to the Gamkaberg
The Gamkaberg Nature Reserve is situated in the Little Karoo region of the Western Cape province, South Africa.
Name and history
The reserve takes its name from the central mountain, Gamkaberg, which in turn derives its name from the indigenou ...
in the east. It is drained by the Groot River and the Gourits River
Gourits River ( af, Gouritsrivier), sometimes spelled 'Gouritz River', is situated in the Western Cape, South Africa.
The Gourits River flows from the confluence of the Gamka River and Olifants River and is joined by the Groot River, before flo ...
. It abuts on the Laingsburg and Prince Albert municipalities to the north, the Oudtshoorn Municipality
Oudtshoorn Municipality ( af, Oudtshoorn Munisipaliteit) is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. , the population was 95,933.
Geography
The municipality covers an area of in the Little Karoo, stretching from the S ...
to the east, the Hessequa Municipality
Hessequa Local Municipality ( af, Hessequa Munisipaliteit, before 24 June 2005 the Langeberg Local Municipality) is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It is flanked by the lower Breede River to the west and the Gou ...
to the south and the Swellendam
Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them ...
and Langeberg
The Langeberg Range is a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its highest peak is Keeromsberg at 2,075 m that lies 15 km northeast of the town of Worcester. Some of the highest peaks of the range are located just to ...
Municipalities to the west.
According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 24,767 people in 6,212 households. Of this population, 84.6% describe themselves as " Coloured", 9.9% 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 o ...
", and 4.7% as "Black African
Black is a Racialization, racialized classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have ...
". 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 95.4% 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 gra ...
, while 2.5% 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 largest town and location of the municipal headquarters is Ladismith
Ladismith is a town and agricultural centre in the western Little Karoo region of South Africa's Western Cape province.
Geography
It is situated adjacent to a series of fertile, irrigated valleys, at an elevation of 550 m above sea level, at ...
, which as of 2011 has a population of 7,127. Ladismith is at the foot of the Swartberg, as are Zoar (pop. 4,659) and Calitzdorp
Calitzdorp is a town on the Western side of the Little or Klein Karoo 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 provi ...
(pop. 4,284) to the east. Van Wyksdorp (pop. 833) is further south in the valley of the Groot River.
History
Formation of the municipality
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 was ...
era, the area that is today the Kannaland Municipality was divided between two Regional Services Councils (RSCs): the northern part around Ladismith
Ladismith is a town and agricultural centre in the western Little Karoo region of South Africa's Western Cape province.
Geography
It is situated adjacent to a series of fertile, irrigated valleys, at an elevation of 550 m above sea level, at ...
, Zoar and Calitzdorp
Calitzdorp is a town on the Western side of the Little or Klein Karoo 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 provi ...
formed part of the Klein Karoo RSC, while the southern part around Van Wyksdorp formed part of the South Cape RSC. The towns of Ladismith, Calitzdorp and Van Wyksdorp were governed by municipal councils elected by their 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 o ...
residents. The coloured residents of Nissenville (Ladismith) and Calitzdorp were governed by management committees subordinate to the white councils. The mission settlement of Zoar 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 November 1993, the Municipality of Calitzdorp and the Calitzdorp Management Committee merged into a single municipal council.
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. In December 1994 Ladismith TLC replaced the Municipality of Ladismith and the Nissenville Management Committee. In January 1995 Calitzdorp TLC replaced the Municipality of Calitzdorp, and Zoar TLC replaced the Zoar Management Board. In October 1995 Vanwyksdorp Municipality was also converted into a TLC.
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 Kannaland included the Ladismith and Calitzdorp TRCs under the Klein Karoo DC as well as part of the Langeberg TRC under the South Cape DC.
At the local elections of December 2000 the TLCs and TRCs were dissolved and the Kannaland Municipality was established as a single local authority. At the same election the Klein Karoo and South Cape District Councils were also dissolved and replaced by the Eden District Municipality
The Garden Route District Municipality ( af, Tuinroete-distriksmunisipaliteit or ''Garden Route Distriksmunisipaliteit''; xh, uMasipala weSithili sase Garden Route; formerly known as the Eden District Municipality) is a district municipality loca ...
.
Political history since 2000
The December 2000 local government elections returned a council of four Democratic Alliance (DA) councillors, four African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
(ANC) councillors, and one Pan Africanist Congress
The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...
(PAC) councillor. A short-lived coalition led by the DA took power after the December 2000 local government elections, but it collapsed when the single PAC councillor withdrew his support, and the ANC took control of the council in March 2001.
The March 2006 local government elections returned a council of four ANC councillors, two DA councillors, two Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (ICOSA) councillors, and one Independent Democrats
The Independent Democrats (ID) was a South African political party, formed by former Pan Africanist Congress member Patricia de Lille in 2003 via floor crossing legislation. The party's platform was premised on opposition to corruption, with ...
(ID) councillor. An ANC/DA coalition took power until this coalition collapsed in August 2006 and was replaced by a coalition between the DA and ICOSA. This coalition collapsed in September 2007 when two ICOSA and three ANC councillors crossed the floor to the new National People's Party (NPP), giving that party a majority of five seats in a council which at that time consisted of nine members. The DA refused to recognize the new NPP-led council administration as it alleged that the 2 ICOSA defectors were sacked prior to the floor-crossing window being open, and it challenged the council recomposition in the Western Cape High Court
The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over th ...
. The former mayor refused to step down pending the outcome of the case.
In 2011 the auditor-general declared that he could not give a clear statement about the financial situation in the municipality because the records are missing and no one seemed to know where they were. After almost a decade of financial problems an attempt to restore order was underway in 2011
In the election of 18 May 2011 the council was reduced in size to seven seats. No party obtained a majority; ICOSA won three seats while the ANC and the DA won two each. ICOSA and the ANC formed a coalition to govern the municipality.
The election of 3 August 2016 left the party composition of the council unchanged. The DA and ANC councillors formed a coalition to govern without ICOSA, but DA national leadership said that the coalition had not been authorized. In March 2017 the ANC recalled its councillors to put an end to the coalition. However the mayor has not been recalled despite the national ANC structures stating that this would happen. A motion of no confidence in the mayor and speaker of the municipality was put forward in August 2017. The motion failed with the DA and ANC in the municipality against the motion, leaving the ANC mayor Magdalene Barry in power. The Democratic Alliance spokesperson on local government stated that the party would side with the ANC in order to keep the Independent Civic Organisation away from the public purse. This follows forensic evidence detailing financial misconduct that amounted to more than R14 million under Jeffrey Donson's tenure.
Politics
The municipal council consists of seven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Four councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
in four wards, while the remaining three are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.
Election results
The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.
References
External links
Official website
Kannaland Holiday Resort
{{Municipalities of the Western Cape
Local municipalities of the Garden Route District Municipality