Sarah Baartman District Municipality

The Sarah Baartman District Municipality (Xhosa: uMasipala weSithili sase Sarah Baartman; Afrikaans: Sarah Baartman-distriksmunisipaliteit), formerly the Cacadu District Municipality, is situated in the western part of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, covering an area of 58,242 square kilometres. The area of the district municipality includes seven local municipalities. The seat is the city of Gqeberha, although Gqeberha is not itself in the district (it is in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality). As of 2011, the languages most spoken among the 388,201 inhabitants were Xhosa and Afrikaans. The district code is DC10.

Sarah Baartman
old: Cacadu
Official seal of Sarah Baartman
Location in the Eastern Cape
Location in the Eastern Cape
Coordinates: 33°57′S 25°36′E / 33.950°S 25.600°E / -33.950; 25.600
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceEastern Cape
DistrictSarah Baartman District Municipality
SeatGqeberha
Local municipalities
Government
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorKhunjuzwa Eunice Kekana (ANC)
Area
 • Total58,194 km2 (22,469 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total450,584
 • Density7.7/km2 (20/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • African53.3%
 • Coloured34.9%
 • Indian/Asian0.3%
 • White10.9%
First languages (2011)
 • Xhosa45.4%
 • Afrikaans45.1%
 • English6.5%
 • Other3%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeDC10

The municipality is a multi-ethnic administration, formed by the African National Congress government through the merging of the predominantly Afrikaans-speaking western part of the Eastern Cape, together with Xhosa areas near the Fish River, and the English district of Albany (with its own distinctive local culture, dating back to the 1820 settlers).

The name Cacadu is regarded by the Xhosa as covering the entire area of the district municipality, but in fact it is taken from a river that runs entirely in Gqeberha. Cacadu, meaning "bulrush water", is the Xhosa form of the Khoekhoe name of the river. The Dutch name is a translation: Papenkuils (in Afrikaans a bulrush is called a papkuil). The river rises in the Parsons Vlei and runs to the sea close to the Gqeberha industrial suburb of Deal Party.

In 2015, the municipality was renamed for Saartjie "Sarah" Baartman (1789–1815), a Khoekhoe woman who was taken to London to perform at freak shows and after her death her remains were exhibited until 1974. The renaming is part of an effort to redress marginalisation of the Khoekhoe people.[3]

Government edit

The Executive Mayor of Sarah Baartman District Municipality is Khunjuzwa Eunice Kekana, and the Municipal Manager is Ted Pillay.

Geography edit

 
Entering Sarah Baartman District from Chris Hani District on the R61 between Cradock and Graaff-Reinet on an unusually snowy winters day in 2012.

The Sarah Baartman district covers an area of 58,243 square kilometres (22,488 sq mi) in the southwestern part of the Eastern Cape province. It extends to the Great Fish River in the east and the Sneeuberge in the north. The metropolitan area around Gqeberha is excluded from the district, being in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.

The southwestern part of the district (west of Gqeberha) is marked by several ranges of mountains that run parallel to the sea, including the Baviaanskloof mountains, the Kouga mountains and the Tsitsikamma mountains. In the southeastern part (east of Port Elizabeth) is the Albany region around the city of Grahamstown. The northern interior of the district is the southeastern end of the Karoo.

To the west the district borders on the Garden Route and Central Karoo districts of the Western Cape; to the north it borders on the Pixley ka Seme district of the Northern Cape; and to the east it borders on the Chris Hani and Amathole districts of the Eastern Cape.

Sarah Baartman district is divided into nine local municipalities, as below:

Name Seat Population
(2011)
Area
(km2)
Density
(inhabitants/km2)
Blue Crane Route Local Municipality Somerset East 36,002 11,068 3.3
Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality Graaff-Reinet 79,291 28,653 2.8
Makana Local Municipality Grahamstown 80,390 4,376 18.4
Ndlambe Local Municipality Port Alfred 61,176 1,841 33.2
Sundays River Valley Local Municipality Kirkwood 54,504 5,994 9.1
Kouga Local Municipality Jeffreys Bay 98,558 2,670 36.9
Kou-Kamma Local Municipality Kareedouw 40,663 3,642 11.2
Total 450,584 58,243 7.7

After the municipal elections on 3 August 2016, the Camdeboo, Ikwezi and Baviaans municipalities were merged to form the new Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality, with its head offices in Graaff-Reinet. This merger resulted in there being seven local municipalities within the Sarah Baartman District.

Demographics edit

The following statistics are from the 2001 census.

Language Population %
Xhosa 190,003 48.94%
Afrikaans 174,917 45.06%
English 20 806 5.36%
Sotho 744 0.19%
Zulu 596 0.15%
Other 451 0.12%
Ndebele 192 0.05%
Swati 172 0.04%
Tswana 127 0.03%
Northern Sotho 87 0.02%
Tsonga 80 0.02%
Venda 46 0.01%

Gender edit

Gender Population %
Female 202,295 52.11%
Male 185,906 47.89%

Ethnic group edit

Ethnic group Population %
Black African 202,289 52.11%
Coloured 141,083 36.34%
White 44 110 11.36%
Indian/Asian 719 0.19%

Age edit

Age Population %
0–4 33 178 8.55%
5–9 36 745 9.47%
10–14 40 809 10.51%
15–19 41 052 10.57%
20–24 33 222 8.56%
25–29 32 096 8.27%
30–34 29 929 7.71%
35–39 27 840 7.17%
40–44 24 208 6.24%
45–49 20 483 5.28%
50–54 16 494 4.25%
55–59 13 289 3.42%
60-64 12 928 3.33%
65–69 9 218 2.37%
70–74 6 764 1.74%
75–79 4 447 1.15%
80–84 3 276 0.84%
85–89 1 325 0.34%
90–94 680 0.18%
95–99 154 0.04%
100 plus 64 0.02%

Politics edit

Election results edit

Election results for Cacadu in the South African general election, 2004.

  • Population 18 and over: 252,570 [65.06% of total population]
  • Total votes: 161,399 [41.58% of total population]
  • Voting % estimate: 63.90% votes as a % of population 18 and over
Party Votes %
African National Congress 116,320 72.07%
Democratic Alliance 27 615 17.11%
Independent Democrats 3 768 2.33%
New National Party 3 694 2.29%
African Christian Democratic Party 2 755 1.71%
United Democratic Movement 2 416 1.50%
Freedom Front Plus 1 687 1.05%
Pan African Congress 999 0.62%
Azanian People's Organisation 492 0.30%
Inkhata Freedom Party 277 0.17%
United Christian Democratic Party 222 0.14%
NA 201 0.12%
Socialist Party of Azania 168 0.10%
EMSA 160 0.10%
Christian Democratic Party 144 0.09%
Peace and Justice Congress 113 0.07%
UF 99 0.06%
TOP 82 0.05%
Keep It Straight and Simple Party 75 0.05%
New Labour Party 69 0.04%
Minority Front 43 0.03%
Total 161,399 100.00%

References edit

  1. ^ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. ^ "E Cape municipality named after Sarah Baartman". SABC. 24 September 2015. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.

External links edit