Merafong City | |
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 Seal | |
.svg) Location of Merafong City Local Municipality within Gauteng | |
| Coordinates:26°25′S27°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 | |
| • Type | Municipal council |
| • Mayor | Nozuko Best (ANC) |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,631 km2 (630 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[2] | |
• Total | 197,520 |
| • Density | 121.1/km2 (313.7/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup(2011) | |
| • Black African | 86.5% |
| • Coloured | 1.1% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.3% |
| • White | 11.8% |
| First languages(2011) | |
| • Xhosa | 24.9% |
| • Tswana | 21.4% |
| • Sotho | 19.3% |
| • Afrikaans | 12.8% |
| • Other | 21.6% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Municipal code | GT484 |
Merafong City Municipality (Xhosa:uMasipala weSixeko saseMerafong;Tswana:Mmasepala wa Merafong City;Sotho:Masepala wa Merafong City;Afrikaans:Merafong City Munisipaliteit) is alocal municipality in theWest Rand District Municipality, in theGauteng province ofSouth Africa. Its boundaries encloses some of the richest gold mines in the world. It is situated about 65 km fromJohannesburg and is serviced by a number of major roads, including theN12 from Johannesburg toKimberley and theN14 (the main road between Gauteng andVryburg viaVentersdorp).
Formerly a cross-border municipality, the entire municipality was transferred to theNorth West province following the abolition of cross-border municipalities by an amendment to theSouth African Constitution in 2005.[4] The municipality was a part of the North West province from 2005 to 2009, when it was reincorporated into Gauteng by another amendment to the Constitution. This transfer was necessitated as a result of often violent protests in the township ofKhutsong.[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 townCarletonville was named after Guy Carleton Jones, an engineer from theGold 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 betweenWestern Deep Levels andElandsrand 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 byHarry Oppenheimer, and municipal status was granted to the town on 1 January 1990.[6]
Attached to Fochville and Carletonville are the towns ofKhutsong, Kokosi, Greenspark, Welverdiend, and Blybank.
The2001 census divided the municipality into the followingmain places:[7]
| Place | Code | Area (km2) | Population | Most spoken language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blybank | 78801 | 6.90 | 471 | Zulu |
| Blyvooruitzicht | 78802 | 6.31 | 6,461 | Xhosa |
| Carletonville | 78803 | 12.67 | 18,364 | Afrikaans |
| Deelkraal | 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 |
| Elandsridge | 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 |
| Leeupoort | 68805 | 0.30 | 1,176 | Sotho |
| Letsatsing | 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 |
| Western Deep Levels Mine | 78815 | 44.72 | 11,274 | Sotho |
| Remainder of the municipality | 78810 +68806 | 1,471.53 | 12,144 |
The municipal council consists of fifty-five members elected bymixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-eight councillors are elected byfirst-past-the-post voting in twenty-eightwards, while the remaining twenty-seven are chosen fromparty lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In theelection of 1 November 2021, theAfrican National Congress (ANC) lost their majority of seats on the council
The following table shows the results of the election.[8]
| Party | Ward | List | Total seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| African National Congress | 18,863 | 48.26 | 21 | 19,316 | 49.68 | 6 | 27 | |
| Democratic Alliance | 6,159 | 15.76 | 5 | 6,430 | 16.54 | 4 | 9 | |
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 5,584 | 14.29 | 1 | 6,127 | 15.76 | 8 | 9 | |
| Freedom Front Plus | 2,671 | 6.83 | 0 | 2,761 | 7.10 | 4 | 4 | |
| Merafong Agents of Change | 1,218 | 3.12 | 0 | 1,356 | 3.49 | 2 | 2 | |
| Independent candidates | 2,024 | 5.18 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Inkatha Freedom Party | 625 | 1.60 | 0 | 654 | 1.68 | 1 | 1 | |
| African Independent Congress | 443 | 1.13 | 0 | 460 | 1.18 | 1 | 1 | |
| United Democratic Movement | 395 | 1.01 | 0 | 402 | 1.03 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10 other parties | 1,101 | 2.82 | 0 | 1,377 | 3.54 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 39,083 | 100.00 | 28 | 38,883 | 100.00 | 27 | 55 | |
| Valid votes | 39,083 | 98.06 | 38,883 | 97.41 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 772 | 1.94 | 1,033 | 2.59 | ||||
| Total votes | 39,855 | 100.00 | 39,916 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 94,811 | 42.04 | 94,811 | 42.10 | ||||
The power utilityEskom has identified Merafong as a municipality with a poor payment record. Its debt with Eskom rose from over R570 million in 2021[9] to R700 million in 2022[10] when they were in discussions with the utility to address the monthly shortfalls.
Municipalities and communities ofWest Rand District Municipality,Gauteng | ||
|---|---|---|
District seat:Randfontein | ||
| Mogale City | .svg) | |
| Merafong City | ||
| Rand West City | ||
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