Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality

Dr Beyers Naudé Municipality (Afrikaans: Dr Beyers Naudé Munisipaliteit; Xhosa: uMasipala wase Dr Beyers Naudé) is a local municipality within the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The municipality was established by merging the Camdeboo, Ikwezi and Baviaans local municipalities. The decision to merge the municipalities was taken by the Municipal Demarcation Board in 2015 but only took effect after municipal elections on 3 August 2016. The new municipality is named after the Afrikaner cleric and anti-apartheid activist Beyers Naudé.^[3] Its seat is in Graaff-Reinet. The merger was motivated by political interests because the ruling party, the African National Congress, was losing support in the area. One of the municipalities, Baviaans, was already governed by the opposition Democratic Alliance.

Dr Beyers Naudé
Local municipality
Location of the municipality within the Eastern Cape
Coordinates: 32.248°S 24.535°E / -32.248; 24.535
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
District	Sarah Baartman
Seat	Graaff-Reinet
Wards	14
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Ewald Loock (DA)
• Speaker	Laughton Hoffman (CSA)
Area [2]
• Total	28,653 km2 (11,063 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	79,291
• Density	2.8/km2 (7.2/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	23.6%
• Coloured	66.9%
• Indian/Asian	0.4%
• White	8.7%
First languages (2011) [2]
• Afrikaans	80.3%
• Xhosa	14.8%
• English	3.2%
• Other	1.7%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	EC101

Geography and people

The new municipality covers an area of 28,653 square kilometres (11,063 sq mi) at the western end of the Eastern Cape province, from the Sneeuberge in the north to the Baviaanskloof in the south. It is a sparsely populated area, with a population of 79,291 giving a density of only 2.8 inhabitants per square kilometre (7.3/sq mi).^[2]

80.3% of residents of the municipality speak Afrikaans as their home language, while 14.8% speak Xhosa and 3.2% speak English. 66.9% described themselves as "Coloured", 23.6% as "Black African", and 8.7% as "White".^[2]

The principal town in the municipal area is Graaff-Reinet, with a population of approximately 35,000. Other towns include Willowmore, Aberdeen, Jansenville, Steytlerville and Klipplaat.

Government and politics

Main article: Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of 24 members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. 12 councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in 12 wards, while the remaining 12 are chosen from party lists 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 won a majority of seats on the council. On 23 November 2021, a DA-led coalition took control of the municipality.^[4]

The following table shows the results of the election.^[5]

Dr Beyers Naudé local election, 1 November 2021
Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	African National Congress	8,666	8,595	17,261	46.8%	7	4	11
	Democratic Alliance	7,253	7,330	14,583	39.6%	5	5	10
	Economic Freedom Fighters	782	760	1,542	4.2%	0	1	1
	Compatriots of South Africa	656	675	1,331	3.6%	0	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	567	546	1,113	3.0%	0	1	1
	Independent candidates	180	–	180	0.5%	0	–	0
	3 other parties	331	527	858	2.3%	0	0	0
Total		18,435	18,433	36,868		12	12	24
Valid votes		18,435	18,433	36,868	98.3%
Spoilt votes		363	272	635	1.7%
Total votes cast		18,798	18,705	37,503
Voter turnout		18,818
Registered voters		39,913
Turnout percentage		47.1%