Politics
The municipal council consists of twenty-five members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirteen wards, while the remaining twelve 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 18 May 2011 no party obtained a majority, with the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) winning eleven seats each. The ANC formed a coalition with the Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa and the National People's Party, which each hold one seat, to govern the municipality.
The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.
| Party | Votes | Vote % | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ward | List | Total | ||||
| Democratic Alliance | 27,058 | 46.2 | 6 | 5 | 11 | |
| African National Congress | 24,861 | 42.4 | 7 | 4 | 11 | |
| Congress of the People | 1,772 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa | 1,721 | 2.9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| National People's Party | 1,316 | 2.2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| African Christian Democratic Party | 987 | 1.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| South African Progressive Civic Organisation | 535 | 0.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Freedom Front Plus | 337 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 58,587 | 100.0 | 13 | 12 | 25 | |
| Spoilt votes | 737 | |||||
The local council sends three representatives to the council of the Eden District Municipality: one each from the Democratic Alliance, the African National Congress and the Congress of the People.
Read more about this topic: Oudtshoorn Local Municipality
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“... privacy is ... connected to a politics of domination.”
—bell hooks (b. 1955)
“Politics is not an end, but a means. It is not a product, but a process. It is the art of government. Like other values it has its counterfeits. So much emphasis has been placed upon the false that the significance of the true has been obscured and politics has come to convey the meaning of crafty and cunning selfishness, instead of candid and sincere service.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“When feminism does not explicitly oppose racism, and when antiracism does not incorporate opposition to patriarchy, race and gender politics often end up being antagonistic to each other and both interests lose.”
—Kimberly Crenshaw (b. 1959)