# Mossel Bay Local Municipality

Mossel Bay Municipality (Afrikaans: Mosselbaai Munisipaliteit; Xhosa: uMasipala wase Mossel Bayi) is a local municipality within the Garden Route District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2022, the population was 140,075.

## Geography

The municipality covers an area of 2,011 square kilometres (776 sq mi) on the coastal plain between the Outeniqua Mountains and the sea. It stretches from the Gourits River in the west to beyond the Great Brak River in the east. It is drained by the Gourits, Hartenbos, Little Brak and Great Brak Rivers. It abuts on the Hessequa Municipality to the west, the Oudtshoorn Municipality to the north and the George Municipality to the east.

## Demographics

The 2022 South African census reported a population of 140,075 people in the municipality. This represented an average annual increase of 4.4% from 2011. Those identifying as "Coloured" comprised 34.5% of the population, followed by "Whites" at 34.1%, and "Black Africans," at 29.4%. With over one-third of the population identifying as White, Mossel Bay had a higher proportion of Whites than any other municipality in South Africa.
According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 89,430 people in 28,025 households. Of this population, 43.5% describe themselves as "Coloured", 29.5% as "Black African", and 25.5% as "White". The first language of 67.6% of the population is Afrikaans, while 21.5% speak Xhosa, 6.5% speak English and 1.3% speak Sotho.
The principal town is Mossel Bay on the Cape St Blaize peninsula, which as of 2011 has a population of 59,031. Northeast of Mossel Bay is a string of coastal resorts along the shores of the bay: Hartenbos (pop. 4,196), Little Brak River (pop. 2,037), Reebok (pop. 1,112), Tergniet (pop. 1,264) and Great Brak River (pop. 10,619). To the southwest of Mossel Bay are the smaller coastal villages of Boggomsbaai (pop. 69) and Vleesbaai (pop. 193). Herbertsdale (pop. 666), Brandwag (pop. 1,470) and Friemersheim (pop. 1,235) are situated in the interior of the municipality closer to the mountains.

## History

At the end of the apartheid era, the area that is today the Mossel Bay Municipality formed part of the South Cape Regional Services Council (RSC). The towns of Mossel Bay, Hartenbos, Great Brak River and Herbertsdale were governed by municipal councils elected by their white residents. The coloured residents of D'Almeida (Mossel Bay) and Great Brak River were governed by management committees subordinate to the white councils. Kwanonqaba was governed by a town council established under the Black Local Authorities Act, 1982. The smaller coastal resorts were governed by local councils: a council for Boggomsbaai, a council covering Little Brak River, Reebok and Tergniet, and another council named Gleniqua covering Glentana, Outeniquastrand and Bothastrand. The former missionary settlement of Friemersheim was governed by a board of management.
While the negotiations to end apartheid were taking place a process was established for local authorities to agree on voluntary mergers. In March 1992, the Municipality of Great Brak River, the Great Brak River Management Committee and the Gleniqua Local Council merged into a single Municipality for the Area of Great Brak River.
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. The smaller seaside resorts were also combined with larger towns.
* Herbertsdale TLC replaced the Municipality of Herbertsdale in December 1994.
* Friemersheim TLC replaced the Friemersheim Management Board in January 1995.
* Mossel Bay TLC replaced the Municipalities of Mossel Bay and Hartenbos, the D'Almeida Management Committee, the Kwanonqaba Town Council, the Boggomsbaai Local Council, and the Klein Brak River, Reebok and Tergniet Local Council in February 1995.
* Great Brak River TLC replaced the Municipality for the Area of Great Brak River in February 1995.
The transitional councils were initially made up of members nominated by the various parties to the negotiations, until May 1996 when elections were held. 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 that was to become Mossel Bay Municipality included the Mossel Bay TRC and a small part of the Outeniqua TRC.
At the local elections of December 2000 the TLCs and TRCs were dissolved and the Mossel Bay 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.

## Politics

The municipal council consists of twenty-nine members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Fifteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in fifteen wards, while the remaining fourteen are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.
Marie Ferreira of the Democratic Alliance (DA) became executive mayor after the March 2006 local government elections when the DA formed a coalition with Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (ICOSA) since no single party had obtained an outright majority. The DA held 10 seats in the (then) 23-seat council followed by 8 for the African National Congress (ANC) and 3 for ICOSA. Following the September 2007, floor-crossing window the DA gained an outright majority when 3 councillors defected to the DA resulting in the DA holding 13 seats out of 23 while the ANC lost a seat to the DA and currently has 7. ICOSA lost its representation in the council when 2 councillors defected to the DA and its one ward councillor became an independent.
In the election of 18 May 2011 the DA won a majority of sixteen seats on the council. In the election of 3 August 2016 the DA increased its majority to seventeen seats. The DA further expanded that majority to nineteen seats in the election of 1 November 2021. The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.
Mossel Bay local election, 1 November 2021 :
| Party | Party | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes | Seats | Seats | Seats |
| Party | Party | Ward | List | Total | % | Ward | List | Total |
| | Democratic Alliance | 23,372 | 23,340 | 46,712 | 66.2% | 10 | 9 | 19 |
| | African National Congress | 5,333 | 5,431 | 10,764 | 15.3% | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| | Freedom Front Plus | 1,889 | 1,936 | 3,825 | 5.4% | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa | 1,791 | 1,774 | 3,565 | 5.1% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | African Christian Democratic Party | 915 | 907 | 1,822 | 2.6% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Patriotic Alliance | 702 | 718 | 1,420 | 2.0% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Independent candidates | 141 | – | 141 | 0.2% | 0 | – | 0 |
| | 8 other parties | 1,097 | 1,176 | 2,273 | 3.2% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 35,240 | 35,282 | 70,522 | | 15 | 14 | 29 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 35,240 | 35,282 | 70,522 | 99.2% |
| Spoilt votes | Spoilt votes | 263 | 333 | 596 | 0.8% |
| Total votes cast | Total votes cast | 35,503 | 35,615 | 71,118 | |
| Voter turnout | Voter turnout | 35,693 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 64,310 |
| Turnout percentage | Turnout percentage | 55.5% |

## Crime and corruption

In 2007, crime figures revealed that Mossel Bay recorded the lowest crime rates in the country. Between August 2006 and July 2007, there were no murders, hijackings, or business robberies. The low unemployment rate has been cited as a factor for the low crime rates. In 2018 two minicipal workers were arrested after swindling the municipality out of R138,000 by changing the amounts charged for grave sites. Each received a three year jail sentence.