Oudtshoorn Municipality ( af, Oudtshoorn Munisipaliteit) 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 southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. , the population was 95,933.

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'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...

, 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 Kar ...

mountains in the north to 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 Mountains ...

in the south, and from 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 west to the

Kammanassie Mountains The Kammanassie Mountains (Kammanassieberge in Afrikaans) are a mountain range in the Western Cape, South Africa. The highest peak is Mannetjiesberg at 1,955 metres above sea level and the mountain range is one of the prominent east-west trending ...

in the east. It abuts on the

Prince Albert Municipality Prince Albert Municipality is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. History At the end of the apartheid era, the area that is today the Prince Albert Local Municipality formed part of the Central Karoo Regional Servi ...

to the north, the

George Municipality George Municipality ( af, George Munisipaliteit; xh, uMasipala wase Joji) is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. the population is 193,672. Its municipality code is WC044. Geography The municipality covers an ar ...

to the east, the

Mossel Bay Municipality Mossel Bay Municipality ( af, Mosselbaai Munisipaliteit; xh, uMasipala wase Mossel Bayi) is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. the population was 89,430. Geography The municipality covers an area of on the coa ...

to the south, 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 southwest and the

Kannaland Municipality Kannaland Municipality ( af, Kannaland Munisipaliteit) is a local municipality located within the Garden Route District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The municipal area is situated in the western part of the Little Kar ...

to the west. According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 95,933 people in 21,910 households. Of this population, 77.3% 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 ...

", 12.5% 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 ...

", and 9.1% 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 91.0% 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 4.8% 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, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

and 2.3% 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 ...

. Most of the residents of the municipality live in the town of

Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1 ...

, which as of 2011 has a population of 61,507. East of Oudtshoorn are the towns of

Dysselsdorp Dysselsdorp is a village in Garden Route District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The village is located approximately 30 kilometers east of Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town i ...

(pop. 12,544) and

De Rust De Rust is a small village at the gateway to the Klein Karoo, South Africa. The name is Dutch and literally translates to "The Rest", referring to the town's original purpose of being a resting place for settlers en route through the challenging t ...

(pop. 3,566). There are small agricultural villages at Armoed (pop. 472) and De Hoop (pop. 151).

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 was ...

era, the area that is today the Oudtshoorn Municipality formed part of the Klein Karoo Regional Services Council (RSC). The towns of

and

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 on ...

residents. The

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 Bridgton (Oudtshoorn) and Blomnek (De Rust) were governed by management committees subordinate to the white councils.

was also governed by a management committee. Bongolethu was governed by a town council established under the

Black Local Authorities Act, 1982 The Black Local Authorities Act of 1982 provided for the establishment of a series of local government structures similar to those operating in the South African Apartheid "White areas". For the first time under Apartheid, African black residents ...

. 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 the De Rust/Blomnek TLC replaced the Municipality of De Rust and Blomnek Management Committee. In January 1995 the Oudtshoorn TLC replaced the Municipality of Oudtshoorn, Bridgton Management Committee and Bongolethu Town Council. In the same month the Dysselsdorp TLC replaced the Dysselsdorp Management Committee. 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 the time of these elections the Klein Karoo District Council was established in place of the Klein Karoo RSC, and transitional representative councils (TRCs) were elected to represent rural areas outside the TLCs on the District Council. The area that was to become Oudtshoorn Municipality included the Oudtshoorn TRC and a small part of the Bo-Langkloof TRC. At the local elections of December 2000 the TLCs and TRCs were dissolved and the Oudtshorn Municipality was established as a single local authority. At the same election the Klein Karoo District Council was 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 ...

Politics

The municipal council consists of twenty-five 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 ...

. Thirteen 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 their ...

in thirteen

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 priso ...

, while the remaining twelve 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

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) formed a minority coalition with the

Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa The Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (ICOSA) is a minor South African political party. It was founded by former Karoo District Municipality manager Truman Prince, who was expelled from the African National Congress (ANC) in 2006. ...

(ICOSA) and the Oudtshoorn Gemeenskap Inisiatief (OGI). At the inaugural council meeting on 17 November, 24-year-old councillor Chad Louw of the ANC was elected mayor with ICOSA's Vlancio Donson as deputy mayor and the OGI's Colin Sylvester as speaker. The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.

Coats of arms

Municipality (1) — The town council adopted the Van Reede van Oudtshoorn arms "with certain modifications" on 7 February 1908.Western Cape Archives : Oudtshoorn Municipal Minutes (7 February 1908). The arms were : ''Argent, two bars dancetty Sable'' (i.e. a silver shield with two black zig-zag stripes across it), with two golden gryphons as supporters. A golden mural crown was placed above the shield (this appears to have been the "modification"). Municipality (2) — The arms were re-designed in 1959 by

Ivan Mitford-Barberton Ivan Mitford-Barberton (1896–1976) was a sculptor, writer and authority on heraldry. Early life and education Mitford-Barberton was born in Somerset East, in Cape Colony, in 1896. He was a descendant of several 1820 Settler families. His g ...

and H. Ellis Tomlinson, and granted by the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

on 9 September 1960. They were registered with the Cape Provincial Administration in June 1961Cape of Good Hope ''Official Gazette'' 3087 (23 June 1961) and at the

Bureau of Heraldry Bureau ( ) may refer to: Agencies and organizations *Government agency *Public administration * News bureau, an office for gathering or distributing news, generally for a given geographical location * Bureau (European Parliament), the administrat ...

in October 1970.National Archives of South Africa: Data of the Bureau of Heraldry
/ref> The changes to the design were the addition of a red chief bearing a golden mural crown to the shield; the addition of a crest consisting of a pair of black wings inside a golden ring; and each supporter was given an ostrich feather to hold. For some reason, the municipal council later changed the colours: the chief was changed to gold and the mural crown to red, the wings were changed to silver and the ring to red, and the gryphons were changed from gold to red. The registration at the Bureau does not appear to have been amended to reflect these alterations.

Corruption

On 15 December 2021, employees of the municipality allegedly paid R3 million to an entity masquerading as a legitimate contractor.

References

External links

Official website
{{Municipalities of the Western Cape Local municipalities of the Garden Route District Municipality