Overstrand Municipality is a local municipality 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 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 ...

. It is located along the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast between

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and

Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; pt, Cabo das Agulhas , "Cape of the Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of the African continent and the beginning of the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian ...

, within the

Overberg District Municipality The Overberg District Municipality is a district municipality that governs the Overberg region in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is divided into four local municipalities and includes the major towns of Grabouw, Caledon, Hermanu ...

. The principal towns in the municipality are

Hermanus Hermanus (originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

Gansbaai Gansbaai (Dutch/Afrikaans for "bay of geese," sometimes referred to as Gans Bay or Gangs Bay) is a fishing town and popular tourist destination in the Overberg District Municipality, Western Cape, South Africa. It is known for its dense populatio ...

and

Kleinmond Kleinmond is a small coastal town in the Overberg region of the Western Cape province, South Africa. It is situated inside a UNESCO-declared biosphere about 90 km east of Cape Town between Betty's Bay and Hermanus. The town's name, meaning " ...

. it had a population of 80,432.

Geography

The municipality covers an area of stretching along the coast of the

Overberg __NOTOC__ Overberg is a region in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Western Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the ...

, from the eastern edge of

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...

almost to

. At its western end it is separated from the

City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town ( af, Stad Kaapstad; xh, IsiXeko saseKapa) is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,740,026. The remo ...

by the

Kogelberg The Kogelberg is a range of mountains along the False Bay coast in the Western Cape of South Africa. They form part of the Cape Fold Belt, starting south of the Elgin valley and forming a steep coastal range as far as Kleinmond. The Kogelberg ...

mountains; to the north it is separated from the

Theewaterskloof Municipality Theewaterskloof Municipality is a local municipality located within the Overberg District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2007, the population was 108,790. Its municipality code is WC031. The enormous Theewaterskl ...

by the Kogelberg and the

Kleinrivier Mountains The Kleinrivier Mountains are a mountain range in the Cape Fold Belt of the Western Cape province of South Africa. Kleinrivier means "Small River" in Afrikaans and is named after the river in the area that mouths out near Hermanus where the ran ...

; and to the east it abuts on the

Cape Agulhas Municipality Cape Agulhas Municipality ( af, Kaap Agulhas Plaaslike Munisipaliteit) is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. it had a population of 33,038. Its municipality code is WC033. It is named after Cape Agulhas, the sout ...

along a boundary that runs generally north-south just to the west of Elim. The western part of the municipality consists mostly of a narrow coastal plain with mountains immediately behind, while the eastern part beyond the

Klein River Klein River is a river in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The river mouth is located at Hermanus. Its tributaries include the Karringmelk River. It falls within the Drainage system G. See also

* List of rivers of South Africa ...

expands away from the coast to include a wider agricultural region. According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 80,432 people in 28,010 households. Of this population, 36.2% describe themselves 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 ...

", 31.2% 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 31.0% 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 ...

". 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 53.5% 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 29.2% 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 ...

, 12.3% 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 ...

and 1.4% speak

Sotho Sotho may refer to: *Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana * Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an off ...

. Most of the towns in the municipality are on the coast, and due to the proximity to Cape Town many are holiday resorts. The largest town is

Hermanus Hermanus (originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

, which is situated on the northern edge of

Walker Bay Walker Bay is a large bay located in the south-western Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the next major bay between False Bay near Cape Town and Cape Agulhas to the south-east. The bay is famous for having some of the best land based w ...

next to the

* List of rivers of South Africa ...

mouth. As of 2011 Hermanus, which is the site of the municipal headquarters, has a population of 32,769.Sum of the Main Place
HermanusSand Bay
an
Zwelihle
from Census 2011. West of Hermanus, between it and the

Bot River Bot River is a river in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The river mouth is located at Fisherhaven. Its tributaries include the Swart River. It falls within the Drainage system G. Nicky Scarfo aka Jayden was born in this river. Se ...

, are

Onrusrivier Onrusrivier, or Onrus, is a settlement in Overberg District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The name Onrus means 'restless', referring to the pounding of the surf on the rocky coast. Onrusrivier has been the home to some ...

(pop. 5,151) and

Hawston Hawston is a village in the Western Cape, South Africa, It is a fishing village north-east of Mudge Point, 5 km north-west of Onrusrivier and 11 km from Hermanus. It is named after C.R. Haw, a civil commissioner of Caledon. Located in t ...

(pop. 8,214) on the coast, and

Fisherhaven Fisherhaven is a suburb of the whale watching town of Hermanus in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated next to the Bot River Lagoon, about 14 km from Hermanus center and about 14 km from Arabella Country Estate and Golf course ...

(pop. 723) on the Bot River lagoon. On the other side of the Bot River mouth is the town of

(pop. 6,634) and beyond it along the coast are

Betty's Bay Betty's Bay is a small holiday town situated on the Overberg coast of South Africa's Western Cape province. It is located 100 km from Cape Town beneath the Kogelberg Mountains on the scenic R44 ocean drive between Pringle Bay and Kleinmond. Th ...

(pop. 1,380),

Pringle Bay Pringle Bay ( af, Pringlebaai) is a small, affluent coastal village in the Overberg region of the Western Cape, in South Africa. It is situated at the foot of Hangklip, on the opposite side of False Bay from Cape Point. The town and surrounds are ...

(pop. 801) and Rooi-Els (pop. 125). East of Hermanus the municipality includes a wider agricultural area away from the coast. The village of

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

(pop. 4,797) is about inland on the Klein River. To the south, on the opposite side of Walker Bay from Hermanus, is the second-largest town in the municipality,

(pop. 11,598). Just south of Gansbaai, on the southern edge of the Danger Point peninsula, are

Van Dyksbaai Van Dyks Bay is a settlement in Overberg District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded ...

(pop. 500) and

Franskraalstrand Franskraalstrand, also known as Franskraal, is a coastal village near to Gansbaai in the Western Cape province of South Africa. it had a population of 1,165 people in 592 households. Franskraalstrand is situated on the southern coast of the Dange ...

(pop. 1,165). A little further along the coast is

Pearly Beach Pearly Beach is a village in Overberg District Municipality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. An area where the southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') comes to calve and mate along its migratory route (June – October). Thes ...

(pop. 1,042). Inland from Pearly Beach, separated from the coast by a range of hills, is the agricultural hamlet of Baardskeerdersbos (pop. 103), while Wolvengat (pop. 50) is another agricultural hamlet in the far south-east of the municipality.

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, 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.

History

By 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 in the early 1990s there were various local authorities established on a racially-segregated basis in the area that was to become Overstrand. Municipal councils were elected by the

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 of the towns of

Hermanus Hermanus (originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

, and

; and local councils by the white residents of the villages and holiday resorts:

, Rooi-Els,

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

Sandbaai Sandbaai (or Sand Bay) is a seaside town of approximately 4,000 people on the south coast of the Western Cape province in South Africa. Sandbaai lies between Onrusrivier to the west and Hermanus itself to the east. Sandbaai is governed as ward 7 of ...

De Kelders De Kelders (or Die Kelders; Afrikaans: "the caves") is a coastal village in the Overberg District Municipality, Western Cape, South Africa. Holiday resort 19 km south-west of Stanford, between Gans Bay and Hermanus Hermanus (originall ...

, Kleinbaai, and

. 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 ...

areas of Kleinmond, Stanford,

, Mount Pleasant and Gansbaai were governed by management committees subordinate to the white municipalities; and the black area of Zwelihle was governed by a town council established under the Black Local Authorities Act. Rural areas were served by the Overberg Regional Services Council. While the negotiations to end apartheid were taking place a process was established for local authorities to negotiate voluntary mergers. In January 1993 the Municipality of Kleinmond merged with its management committee to form a single Municipality for the Area of Kleinmond; and the Municipality of Gansbaai merged with its management committee and the local councils of De Kelders, Kleinbaai, Franskraalstrand and Pearly Beach to form a single Municipality for the Area of Gansbaai. In January 1994 the Betty's Bay Municipality merged with the local councils of Pringle Bay and Rooi-Els to form the Hangklip Municipality. 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 an outcome of these negotiations, transitional local councils (TLCs) were created and the existing local authorities were dissolved. In December 1994, the Greater Hermanus TLC replaced the Hermanus Municipality, the Onrusrivier Municipality, the Zwelihle Town Council, the management committees of Hawston and Mount Pleasant, and the local councils of Vermont and Sandbaai. In the same month the Gansbaai TLC replaced the Municipality for the Area of Gansbaai. In January 1995 Hangklip/Kleinmond TLC replaced Hangklip Municipality and the Municipality for the Area of Kleinmond, and the Stanford TLC replaced the Municipality of Stanford and the Stanford 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 these elections the

District Council was established, replacing the Overberg Regional Services Council. Transitional representative councils (TRCs) were also elected to represent rural areas outside the TLCs on the District Council; the area that was to become Overstrand included the Hermanus TRC as well as parts of the Caledon and Bredasdorp TRCs. At the local elections of December 2000 the TLCs and TRCs were dissolved, and the Overstrand Municipality was created as a single local authority incorporating both rural and urban areas. It was considered a stronghold of the now defunct New National Party (NNP), which had held (sometimes concealed) majorities of two thirds in the predecessor municipalities after the November 1995 municipal elections, which were the first since South Africa had its first multi-racial elections. After the 2000 election, Willie Smuts, previously mayor of Hangklip-Kleinmond Municipality, was elected mayor, representing the Democratic Alliance (DA), before he defected along with seven other DA councillors to the New National Party (NNP) after the October 2002 floor-crossing window. The NNP then formed a coalition with 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) when the council was reconstituted. After the September 2004 floor crossing Smuts then crossed the floor to the ANC along with most NNP councillors which gave the ANC an outright majority in the town for the first time. At the time of the March 2006 local elections the eastern boundary with

was moved west, with Cape Agulhas taking over rural land to the north and south of Elim. In the 2006 elections the DA won an outright majority of 10 seats in the 19-seat council. Willie Smuts was replaced as Mayor by Theo Beyleveldt. The DA consolidated its hold in the council following the September 2007 floor crossing window which saw the party gain an eleventh seat from 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). The ANC lost a seat to the newly formed National People's Party, as did the

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 ...

, whose only representative in the Overstrand Council crossed over. In the May 2011 local elections, the DA again won Overstrand outright, taking fifteen of the twenty-five seats on the council, with the ANC taking nine and the National Independent Civic Organisation one. In the August 2016 local elections, the DA increased its majority to sixteen of twenty-five seats, with the ANC taking eight and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) taking one. In a by-election in December 2020, the

Land Party The Land Party ( gl, Partido da Terra, ) is a Galicia (Spain), Galician political party that was established in 2011. Party platform The party platform, party's platform encompasses eight types of sovereignty: * Popular sovereignty, citizen sove ...

won a seat from the ANC In the November 2021 local elections, the council was expanded to twenty-seven seats. The DA won seventeen seats, the ANC four, the Land Party and the Freedom Front Plus two each, and the EFF and the ACDP one each.

Election results

The most recent election of the municipal council was held on 1 November 2021; the Democratic Alliance won a majority of 17 seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.

Mayors

* Annelie Rabie (1 November 2021 until present) ( DA) * Dudley Coetzee (28 February 2018 – 30 October 2021) (DA) *

Rudolph Smith Sir Thomas Rudolph Hampden Smith, 2nd Baronet, CBE, FRCS (24 January 1869 – 25 June 1958) was a British surgeon. Smith was the son of the eminent surgeon Sir Thomas Smith, 1st Baronet, of Stratford Place, and his wife Ann Eliza (née Parb ...

(2016–2018; died on 5 January 2018) * Nicolette Botha-Guthrie (2010–2016) (DA) * Theo Beyleveldt (March 2006 – 2010) (DA) * Willie Smuts (September 2004 – March 2006) (

ANC 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 ...

) * Willie Smuts (October 2002 – September 2004) ( NNP) * Willie Smuts (December 2000 – October 2002) (DA)

References

External links

Official website

Overstrand Local Municipality on the Western Cape Government website
{{Municipalities of the Western Cape Local municipalities of the Overberg District Municipality