Merafong City Local Municipality

Merafong City
Local municipality

Seal

Location of Merafong City Local Municipality within Gauteng
Coordinates: 26°25′S 27°25′E / 26.417°S 27.417°E / -26.417; 27.417Coordinates: 26°25′S 27°25′E / 26.417°S 27.417°E / -26.417; 27.417
Country South Africa
Province Gauteng
District West Rand
Seat Carletonville
Wards 28
Government[1]
 • Type Municipal council
 • Mayor S.M Mogale-Letsie (ANC)
Area
 • Total 1,631 km2 (630 sq mi)
Population (2011)[2]
 • Total 197,520
 • Density 120/km2 (310/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[2]
 • Black African 86.5%
 • Coloured 1.1%
 • Indian/Asian 0.3%
 • White 11.8%
First languages (2011)[3]
 • Xhosa 24.9%
 • Tswana 21.4%
 • Sotho 19.3%
 • Afrikaans 12.8%
 • Other 21.6%
Time zone SAST (UTC+2)
Municipal code GT484

Merafong City Local Municipality is a local municipality in West Rand District Municipality, Gauteng, South Africa. Its boundaries enclose some of the richest gold mines in the world. It is situated about 65 km from Johannesburg and is serviced by a number of major roads, including the N12 from Johannesburg to Cape Town and the N14 (the main road between Gauteng and Mafikeng via Ventersdorp).

Formerly a cross-border municipality, the entire municipality was transferred to the North West province[4] following the abolition of cross-border municipalities by an amendment to the South African Constitution in 2005. The municipality was part of the North West Province from 2005 to 2009, when it was reincorporated into the Gauteng Province by another amendment to the Constitution, following often violent protests in the township of Khutsong.[5]

Merafong's historical development is closely knit with the discovery of rich gold deposits in the early 1930s.

Fochville is the oldest town in the region, and was declared a town in 1951.[6]

The town Carletonville was named after Guy Carleton Jones, an engineer from the Gold Fields Ltd mining company, who played a prominent role in the discovery of the West Wits gold field, of which Carletonville forms a part. The mining company decided in November 1946 to establish the town. Carletonville was proclaimed in 1948 and attained Town Council Status on 1 July 1959.[6]

Wedela is situated between Western Deep Levels and Elandsrand mine. The town's name is derived from the prefixes of the two mines: the "Wed-" from Western Deep Levels and the "-ela" from Elandsrand. Wedela was established as a mining village in December 1978 by Harry Oppenheimer, and municipal status was granted to the town on 1 January 1990.[6]

Attached to Fochville and Carletonville are the towns of Khutsong, Kokosi, Greenspark, Welverdiend, and Blybank.

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[7]

Place Code Area (km2) Population Most spoken language
Blybank 788016.90471Zulu
Blyvooruitzicht 788026.316,461Xhosa
Carletonville 7880312.6718,364Afrikaans
Deelkraal 788049.413,356Afrikaans
Doornfontein 788051.512,575Xhosa
East Driefontein Mine 788062.0311,481Xhosa
Elandsfontein 688010.435,256Sotho
Elandsrand 688020.191,786Sotho
Elandsridge 788072.782,881Afrikaans
Fochville 688039.5311,344Afrikaans
Khutsong 788088.6069,858Tswana
Kokosi 688044.9023,062Tswana
Leeupoort 688050.301,176Sotho
Letsatsing 788090.761,511Xhosa
Oberholzer 788113.095,368Afrikaans
Phomolong 788120.25947Xhosa
Wedela 688072.1814,159Xhosa
Welverdiend 788134.062,226Afrikaans
Westdriefontein 7881438.294,792Sotho
Western Deep Levels Mine 7881544.7211,274Sotho
Remainder of the municipality 78810 + 68806 1,471.5312,144

Politics

The municipal council consists of fifty-five members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-eight councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-eight wards, while the remaining twenty-seven 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 3 August 2016 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of seats on the council.

The following table shows the results of the election.[8][9]

Party Votes Seats
Ward List Total % Ward List Total
African National Congress 28,909 28,022 56,931 54.0 23 7 30
Democratic Alliance 11,488 11,425 22,913 21.7 5 7 12
Economic Freedom Fighters 8,564 8,509 17,073 16.2 0 9 9
African Independent Congress 600 1,653 2,253 2.1 0 1 1
Freedom Front Plus 1,053 1,072 2,125 2.0 0 1 1
Inkatha Freedom Party 726 711 1,437 1.4 0 1 1
United Democratic Movement 724 690 1,414 1.3 0 1 1
Others 753 610 1,363 1.3 0 0 0
Total 52,817 52,692 105,509 100.0 28 27 55
Spoilt votes 812 984 1,796

References

  1. ↑ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  4. ↑ Integrated Development Plan. Merafong City Local Municipality. Retrieved on Oct 6, 2009.
  5. ↑ "NCOP Passes Merafong Bills." Press release. Parliament of the Republic of South Africa. Retrieved on Oct 15, 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 About Merafong. Merafong City Local Municipality. Retrieved on Oct 6, 2009.
  7. ↑ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
  8. ↑ "Results Summary – All Ballots: Merafong City" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  9. ↑ "Seat Calculation Detail: Merafong City" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
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