Prince Albert | |
|---|---|
 Seal | |
.svg) Location in the Western Cape | |
| Coordinates:33°00′S22°00′E / 33.000°S 22.000°E /-33.000; 22.000 | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Western Cape |
| District | Central Karoo |
| Seat | Prince Albert |
| Wards | 4 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal council |
| • Mayor | Linda Jaquet (DA) |
| Area | |
• Total | 8,153 km2 (3,148 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | |
• Total | 17,836 |
| • Density | 2.188/km2 (5.666/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup(2022 | |
| • Black African | 1.7% |
| • Coloured | 89.5% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.1% |
| • White | 7.0% |
| First languages(2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 93.5% |
| • English | 3.6% |
| • Other | 2.9% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Municipal code | WC052 |
Prince Albert Municipality (Afrikaans:Prins Albert Munisipaliteit) is alocal municipality located in theWestern Cape province ofSouth Africa.
At the end of theapartheid era, the area that is today the Prince Albert Local Municipality formed part of the Central Karoo Regional Services Council (RSC). The town of Prince Albert was governed by a municipal council elected by thewhite residents, while thecoloured residents were governed by a management committee subordinate to the white council.Bitterwater (Leeu-Gamka) was also governed by a management committee subordinate to the RSC.
After thenational 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, in January 1995 the municipality and management committee of Prince Albert were both dissolved and the Prince Albert Transitional Local Council (TLC) was created to replace them. In the same month the Bitterwater management committee was also replaced by the Leeu-Gamka TLC.
The TLCs were initially made up of members nominated by the various parties to the negotiations, until May 1996 whenelections were held. At the time of these elections the Central Karoo District Council was established in place of the Central Karoo RSC, and transitional representative councils (TRCs) were elected to represent rural areas outside the TLCs on the District Council. The area that was to become Prince Albert Local Municipality was covered by the Prince Albert TRC.
At thelocal elections of December 2000 the TLCs and TRC were all dissolved and the Prince Albert Local Municipality was established as a single local authority. At the same election the Central Karoo District Council was dissolved and replaced by theCentral Karoo District Municipality.
According to the 2022 South African census, the municipality had a population of 17,836, increasing at an average rate of 3.0% annually from 2011. 89.5% of the population identified as "Coloured," with "Whites" at 8.9%. 1.7% of the population identified as "Black African."[4]
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of the Western Cape |
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Related topics |
The municipal council consists of seven members elected bymixed-member proportional representation. Four councillors are elected byfirst-past-the-post voting in fourwards, while the remaining three 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 no party obtained a majority of seats.
The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.[5]
| Prince Albert local election, 1 November 2021 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | Seats | ||||||
| Ward | List | Total | % | Ward | List | Total | ||
| Democratic Alliance | 2,103 | 2,091 | 4,194 | 37.4% | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Karoo Gemeenskap Party | 1,220 | 1,247 | 2,467 | 22.0% | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Patriotic Alliance | 805 | 802 | 1,607 | 14.3% | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| African National Congress | 619 | 595 | 1,214 | 10.8% | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 other parties | 839 | 881 | 1,720 | 15.4% | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 5,586 | 5,616 | 11,202 | 4 | 3 | 7 | ||
| Valid votes | 5,586 | 5,616 | 11,202 | 98.5% | ||||
| Spoilt votes | 81 | 89 | 170 | 1.5% | ||||
| Total votes cast | 5,667 | 5,705 | 11,372 | |||||
| Voter turnout | 5,714 | |||||||
| Registered voters | 8,073 | |||||||
| Turnout percentage | 70.8% | |||||||
The followingby-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period from the election in November 2021.
| Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 September 2022[6] | 4 | Karoo Gemeenskap Party | Democratic Alliance | ||
The by-election took place after theKaroo Gemeenskap Party (KGP), in a coalition with theAfrican National Congress (ANC) andPatriotic Alliance (PA), expelled its ward councillor and mayor Margy Jaftha for supporting theDemocratic Alliance (DA) in a motion to replace the speaker and the deputy mayor with DA representatives. Jaftha subsequently stood for the DA against KGP leader Goliat Lottering, winning the seat, and earning the DA an outright majority on the council. This resulted in the DA's Linda Jaquet being elected as the executive mayor, while Jaftha was elected the speaker of council.[7]
Municipalities and communities ofCentral Karoo District Municipality,Western Cape | ||
|---|---|---|
District seat:Beaufort West | ||
| Laingsburg | .svg) | |
| Prince Albert | ||
| Beaufort West | ||
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