Merafong City Local Municipality

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Merafong City
Local municipality
Official seal of Merafong City
Seal
Location of Merafong City Local Municipality within Gauteng
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
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceGauteng
DistrictWest Rand
SeatCarletonville
Wards28
Government
[1]
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorS.M Mogale-Letsie (ANC)
Area
 • Total1,631 km2 (630 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total197,520
 • Density120/km2 (310/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[2]
 • Black African86.5%
 • Coloured1.1%
 • Indian/Asian0.3%
 • White11.8%
First languages (2011)
[3]
 • Xhosa24.9%
 • Tswana21.4%
 • Sotho19.3%
 • Afrikaans12.8%
 • Other21.6%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeGT484

Merafong City Local Municipality is a local municipality in West Rand District Municipality, Gauteng, South Africa. Its boundaries encloses 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 Beaufort West and the N14 (the main road between Gauteng and Vryburg 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 a 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 in 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
78801 6.90 471 Zulu
Blyvooruitzicht 78802 6.31 6,461 Xhosa
Carletonville 78803 12.67 18,364 Afrikaans
78804 9.41 3,356 Afrikaans
Doornfontein 78805 1.51 2,575 Xhosa
East Driefontein Mine 78806 2.03 11,481 Xhosa
Elandsfontein 68801 0.43 5,256 Sotho
Elandsrand 68802 0.19 1,786 Sotho
78807 2.78 2,881 Afrikaans
Fochville 68803 9.53 11,344 Afrikaans
Khutsong 78808 8.60 69,858 Tswana
Kokosi 68804 4.90 23,062 Tswana
68805 0.30 1,176 Sotho
78809 0.76 1,511 Xhosa
Oberholzer 78811 3.09 5,368 Afrikaans
Phomolong 78812 0.25 947 Xhosa
Wedela 68807 2.18 14,159 Xhosa
Welverdiend 78813 4.06 2,226 Afrikaans
Westdriefontein 78814 38.29 4,792 Sotho
78815 44.72 11,274 Sotho
Remainder of the municipality 78810 + 68806 1,471.53 12,144

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
ANC 28,909 28,022 56,931 54.0 23 7 30
Democratic Alliance 11,488 11,425 22,913 21.7 5 7 12
EFF 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
IFP 726 711 1,437 1.4 0 1 1
UDM 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. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "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. Archived 2011-10-09 at the Wayback Machine Merafong City Local Municipality. Retrieved on Oct 6, 2009.
  5. ^ "NCOP Passes Merafong Bills." Archived 2010-11-28 at the Wayback Machine Press release. Parliament of the Republic of South Africa. Retrieved on Oct 15, 2009.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c About Merafong. Merafong City Local Municipality. Retrieved on Oct 6, 2009.
  7. ^ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa[permanent dead link]
  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.

External links[]

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