Knysna Local Municipality

Local municipality in Western Cape, South Africa

Knysna

Local municipality

Seal

Location of Knysna within the Western Cape

Coordinates: 34°00′S 23°00′E﻿ / ﻿34.000°S 23.000°E﻿ / -34.000; 23.000
Country| South Africa
Province| Western Cape
District| Garden Route
Seat| Knysna
Wards| 10
Government

[1]

• Type| Municipal council
• Mayor| Thando Matika (ANC)
• Deputy Mayor| Morton Gericke (PBI)
• Speaker| Mark Willemse (KIM)
Area

• Total

| 1,109 km2 (428 sq mi)
Population

(2022)[2]

• Total

| 96,055
• Density| 87/km2 (220/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2022)

[2]

• Black African| 41.3%
• Coloured| 34.8%
• Indian/Asian| 0.4%
• White| 21.8%
First languages (2011)

[3]

• Afrikaans| 51.2%
• Xhosa| 28.4%
• English| 15.4%
• Other| 5%
Time zone| UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code| WC048

Knysna Municipality (Afrikaans: Knysna Munisipaliteit; Xhosa: uMasipala wase Knysna) is a local municipality within the Garden Route District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2022, its population is 96,055. Its municipal code is WC048.

## Geography

[edit]

The municipality covers an area of 1,109 square kilometres (428 sq mi) between the Indian Ocean and the Outeniqua Mountains around the town of Knysna. It abuts on the George Municipality to the north and west, and on the Bitou Municipality to the east.

## Demographics

[edit]

According to the 2022 census, 96,055 people lived in the municipality, which had an average growth rate of 3.3% annually from 2011. The racial breakdown of the population was 41.3% "Black African," 34.8% "Coloured," and 21.8% "White."[4]

Most of the residents of the municipality live in the town of Knysna, which as of 2011 has a population of 51,078. Knysna is situated on the shores of the Knysna Lagoon; other coastal settlements are Sedgefield (pop. 8,361) and Buffelsbaai (pop. 71). Away from the coast are agricultural settlements at Rheenendal (pop. 3,936) and Karatara (pop. 880).

## History

[edit]

At the end of the apartheid era, the area that is today the Knysna Municipality formed part of the South Cape Regional Services Council (RSC). The towns of Knysna and Sedgefield were governed by municipal councils elected by their white residents. The coloured residents of Hornlee (Knysna) and Smutsville (Sedgefield) were governed by management committees subordinate to the white councils. Rheenendal was also governed by a management committee. Kwanonqaba was governed by a town council established under the Black Local Authorities Act, 1982. The coastal resorts of Buffelsbaai, Belvidere Estate, Brenton-on-Sea and Noetzie were governed by local councils.

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 a result of these negotiations, the existing local authorities were dissolved and transitional local councils (TLCs) were created for each town and village. In October 1994 Knysna TLC replaced the Municipality of Knysna and Hornlee Management Committee. In December 1994 Sedgefield TLC replaced the Municipality of Sedgefield, Smutsville Management Committee and Buffelsbaai Local Council. These transitional councils were made up of members nominated by the various parties to the negotiations. In October 1995 the local councils of Belvidere Estate, Brenton-on-Sea and Noetzie, and the Rheenendal Management Committee, were all converted to TLCs without negotiations and with the existing councillors retained in office.

In May 1996 elections were held for all the TLCs. At the time of these elections the South Cape District Council was established in place of the South Cape RSC, and transitional representative councils (TRCs) were elected to represent rural areas outside the TLCs on the District Council. The area to become Knysna Municipality included part of the Outeniqua TRC.

At the local elections of December 2000 the TLCs and TRCs were dissolved and the Knysna Municipality was established as a single local authority. At the same election the South Cape District Council was dissolved and replaced by the Eden District Municipality. In 2011 the Hoogekraal Plantation area north of Sedgefield was transferred from George Municipality to Knysna Municipality.

## Politics

[edit]

This article is part of a series on the

Politics of the
Western Cape

Constitution

List of acts of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament

Executive

Premier

The Hon Alan Winde MMP

* * *

Provincial Cabinet

Provincial Parliament

Western Cape Parliament

The Seventh Provincial Parliament

* * *

Speaker
Daylin Mitchell MMP
Deputy Speaker
Reagan Allen MMP

* * *

Chief Whip of the Majority Party
Gillon Bosman MMP
Leader of the Opposition
Khalid Sayed MMP
Chief Whip of the Official Opposition
Ayanda Bans MMP

* * *

Political Parties

* DA

* ANC

* EFF

* GOOD

* ACDP

* FF+

* ALJAMA

Judiciary

Western Cape Division

Administrative divisions

List of municipalities in the Western Cape

Elections

Provincial:

1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024

Municipal:

2000 2006 2011 2016 2021

Related topics

* Cape Independence
* Cape Liberal Tradition

Other provinces

* Politics of the Eastern Cape
* Politics of the Free State
* Politics of Gauteng
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Main article: Knysna Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of twenty-one members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Eleven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in eleven wards, while the remaining ten 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 obtained a majority of seats on the council. The Democratic Alliance (DA) then formed a minority coalition government with the Knysna Independent Movement (KIM). At the first council meeting on 22 November 2021, the DA's Julie Lopes was elected speaker, followed by the DA's Levael Davis as mayor and Mark Willemse from KIM as deputy mayor with the help of the lone councillor from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).[5]

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.[6]

Knysna local election, 1 November 2021

Party | Votes | Seats
Ward | List | Total | % | Ward | List | Total
| Democratic Alliance | 8,176 | 8,421 | 16,597 | 35.4% | 5 | 3 | 8
| African National Congress | 7,660 | 7,889 | 15,549 | 33.2% | 6 | 1 | 7
| Knysna Independent Movement  | 1,901 | 1,797 | 3,698 | 7.9% | 0 | 2 | 2
| Patriotic Alliance | 1,725 | 1,729 | 3,454 | 7.4% | 0 | 2 | 2
| Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners | 1,109 | 1,052 | 2,161 | 4.6% | 0 | 1 | 1
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 558 | 610 | 1,168 | 2.5% | 0 | 1 | 1
| Independent candidates | 573 | – | 573 | 1.2% | 0 | – | 0
| 14 other parties  | 1,840 | 1,797 | 3,637 | 7.8% | 0 | 0 | 0
Total | 23,542 | 23,295 | 46,837 |  | 11 | 10 | 21
Valid votes  | 23,542 | 23,295 | 46,837 | 98.3%
Spoilt votes | 361 | 458 | 819 | 1.7%
Total votes cast | 23,903 | 23,753 | 47,656 |
Voter turnout  | 23,906
Registered voters  | 42,790
Turnout percentage  | 55.9%

### History

[edit]

Joy Cole was first elected mayor under the DA in December 2000 but defected in the September 2004 floor-crossing to become an ANC-aligned independent and reconstituted the council under ANC control. Cole formed a broad-based coalition of the ANC and DA after the March 2006 local government elections when neither party had obtained an outright majority. After Cole resigned in December 2006 to pursue another career, Doris Wakeford-Brown of the DA formed a multi-party coalition. This short-lived coalition collapsed in May 2007 when the Knysna Civic Alliance switched allegiances to the ANC, which brought Eleanore Bouw-Spies in as the new mayor. In the September 2007 floor crossing window the two civic party councillors defected to the ANC, giving the party an outright majority of 9 seats out of 16. Bouw-Spies' term as mayor ended when the DA won an absolute majority in the 2011 election and Georlene Wolmarans was elected mayor. In the 2016 election the DA fell short of an absolute majority, but formed a coalition with the ACDP and an independent councillor. Bouw-Spies, who had crossed to the DA in 2014, returned for a second term as mayor.[7]

Bouw-Spies was removed as mayor after an ANC-initiated vote of no confidence in June 2018. The motion was supported by two DA councillors, Mark Willemse and Peter Myers. Willemse was then elected as the new mayor with COPE member Ricky van Aswegen as deputy mayor.[8] The DA has instituted disciplinary action against its two members, but the matter has dragged on into 2019 without a solution as of yet.

### Mayors

[edit]

* Charles Thobi (2002–2004)
* Joy Cole (December 2000 – September 2004) (DA)
* Joy Cole (September 2004 – March 2006) (Independent)
* Joy Cole (March 2006 – December 2006) (ANC)
* Doris Wakeford-Brown (December 2006 – May 2007) (DA)
* Eleanore Bouw-Spies (May 2007 – May 2011) (ANC)
* Georlene Wolmarans (May 2011 – August 2016) (DA)
* Eleanore Bouw-Spies (August 2016 – June 2018) (DA)
* Mark Willemse (June 2018 – present)

## 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 "Knysna (Local Municipality, South Africa)". Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location. 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
3. ^ "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
4. ^ https://citypopulation.de/en/southafrica/admin/western_cape/WC048__knysna/ [bare URL]
5. ^ Hunter, Zintle Mahlati, Juniour Khumalo, Jan Gerber and Qaanitah. "New political era: DA reaps the rewards as opposition parties kick ANC to the curb". News24. Retrieved 2021-11-23.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6. ^ "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Knysna". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
7. ^ "DA falls short of a majority in Knysna". The Citizen. ANA. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
8. ^ "Mark Willemse new Executive Mayor of Knysna". Knysna-Plett Herald. Retrieved 2023-11-16.

## External links

[edit]

* Knysna Municipality official site

* v
* t
* e

Municipalities and communities of Garden Route District Municipality, Western Cape

District seat: George

Bitou|

* Harkerville
* Keurboomstrand
* Kranshoek
* Kurland Estate
* Nature's Valley
* Plettenberg Bay
* Wittedrif

Garden Route District within South Africa

George|

* Avontuur
* Bergplaas
* De Vlugt
* George
* Haarlem
* Herold
* Herolds Bay
* Hoekwil
* Pacaltsdorp
* Touwsranten
* Twee Rivieren
* Uniondale
* Victoria Bay
* Wilderness
* Woodville

Hessequa|

* Albertinia
* Gouritsmond
* Groot-Jongensfontein
* Heidelberg
* Port Beaufort
* Puntjie
* Riversdale
* Slangrivier
* Stilbaai
* Vermaaklikheid
* Witsand

Kannaland|

* Amaliënstein
* Calitzdorp
* Ladismith
* Vanwyksdorp
* Zoar

Knysna|

* Bracken Hill
* Brenton-on-Sea
* Buffelsbaai
* Farleigh
* Gouna
* Karatara
* Knysna
* Rheenendal
* Sedgefield

Mossel Bay|

* Boggomsbaai
* Brandwag
* Danabaai
* Friemersheim
* Glentana
* Great Brak River
* Hartenbos
* Herbertsdale
* Jonkersberg
* Little Brak River
* Mossel Bay
* Ruiterbos
* Vleesbaai

Oudtshoorn|

* De Hoop
* De Rust
* Dysselsdorp
* Matjiesrivier
* Oudtshoorn
* Schoemanshoek
* Volmoed

* v
* t
* e

Municipalities of the Western Cape

Metropolitan|

City of Cape Town

District
and local|

| West Coast|

* Matzikama
* Cederberg
* Bergrivier
* Saldanha Bay
* Swartland

|

Cape Winelands|

* Witzenberg
* Drakenstein
* Stellenbosch
* Breede Valley
* Langeberg

Overberg|

* Theewaterskloof
* Overstrand
* Cape Agulhas
* Swellendam

Garden Route|

* Kannaland
* Hessequa
* Mossel Bay
* George
* Oudtshoorn
* Bitou
* Knysna

Central Karoo|

* Laingsburg
* Prince Albert
* Beaufort West

List of municipalities in the Western Cape

Authority control databases |

* VIAF

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