Gamagara Local Municipality

Gamagara
Local municipality

Seal

Location in the Northern Cape
Coordinates: 27°40′S 23°00′E / 27.667°S 23.000°E / -27.667; 23.000Coordinates: 27°40′S 23°00′E / 27.667°S 23.000°E / -27.667; 23.000
Country South Africa
Province Northern Cape
District John Taolo Gaetsewe
Seat Kathu
Wards 5
Government[1]
  Type Municipal council
  Mayor James Molodi Rakoi
Area
  Total 2,619 km2 (1,011 sq mi)
Population (2011)[2]
  Total 41,617
  Density 16/km2 (41/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[2]
  Black African 55.0%
  Coloured 28.7%
  Indian/Asian 0.6%
  White 14.0%
First languages (2011)[3]
  Afrikaans 53.9%
  Tswana 33.7%
  English 3.6%
  Sotho 1.4%
  Other 7.4%
Time zone SAST (UTC+2)
Municipal code NC453

Gamagara Local Municipality is an administrative area in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District of the Northern Cape in South Africa.

The name Gamogara is of Setswana origin. The municipality is named after a dry river which was in turn named after a man called Mogara of the Makwere clan (Batlhaping). During the early days of exploration, Mogara was the first person to settle in this part of the country. After 1887, the area became dominated by white farmers who then changed the name as they were unable to pronounce it correctly. Hence it was called Gamagara instead of Gamogara. The name is derived from a dry river that ran from Dibeng to join the Kuruman (Segonyana) river at Dikgatlong tsa ga Kganyile. Incidentally this is the route the Ba ga Motlhware followed on their way to their headquarters, Maje a Mokhothu (Langeberg).[4]

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[5]

Place Code Area (km2) Population
Dibeng 324018.584,023
Dingleton 324021.562,866
Ditloung 319030.623,044
Kathu 324048.538,247
Olifantshoek 319073.513,985
Remainder of the municipality 324032,449.381,048

Politics

The municipal council consists of ten members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Five councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in five wards, while the remaining five 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 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of six seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.[6][7]

Party Votes Seats
Ward List Total % Ward List Total
African National Congress 5,734 5,704 11,438 63.4 4 2 6
Democratic Alliance 2,653 2,636 5,289 29.3 1 2 3
Congress of the People 701 611 1,312 7.3 0 1 1
Total 9,088 8,951 18,039 100.0 5 5 10
Spoilt votes 160 122 282

References

  1. "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  4. South African Languages - Place names
  5. Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
  6. "Results Summary – All Ballots: Gamagara" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  7. "Seat Calculation Detail: Gamagara" (PDF). Independent Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 November 2013.

External links

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