Merafong City Municipality (Xhosa: uMasipala wase Merafong City; Tswana: Mmasepala wa Merafong City; Sotho: Masepala wa Merafong City; Afrikaans: Merafong City Munisipaliteit) is a local municipality in the West Rand District Municipality, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Its boundaries encloses some of the richest gold mines in the world. It is situated about 65 km from Johannesburg and is serviced by a number of major roads, including the N12 from Johannesburg to Kimberley and the N14 (the main road between Gauteng and Vryburg via Ventersdorp).
Merafong City | |
|---|---|
 Seal | |
 Location of Merafong City Local Municipality within Gauteng | |
| Coordinates: 26°25′S 27°25′E / 26.417°S 27.417°E | |
| 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 | 120/km2 (310/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 |
Formerly a cross-border municipality, the entire municipality was transferred to the North West province following the abolition of cross-border municipalities by an amendment to the South 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 of Khutsong.[5]
Merafong's historical development is closely knit with the discovery of rich gold deposits in the early 1930s.
Towns
editFochville is the oldest town in the region and was declared a town in 1951.[6]
The town Carletonville was named after Guy Carleton Jones, an engineer from the Gold 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 between Western Deep Levels and Elandsrand 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 by Harry Oppenheimer, and municipal status was granted to the town on 1 January 1990.[6]
Attached to Fochville and Carletonville are the towns of Khutsong, Kokosi, Greenspark, Welverdiend, and Blybank.
Main places
editThe 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main 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 |
Politics
editThe municipal council consists of fifty-five members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-eight councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-eight wards, while the remaining twenty-seven 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 1 November 2021, the African 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 | ||||
Management
editThe power utility Eskom 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.
References
edit- ^ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ Integrated Development Plan. Archived 2011-10-09 at the Wayback Machine Merafong City Local Municipality. Retrieved on Oct 6, 2009.
- ^ "NCOP Passes Merafong Bills." Archived 2010-11-28 at the Wayback Machine Press release. Parliament of the Republic of South Africa. Retrieved on Oct 15, 2009.
- ^ a b c About Merafong. Merafong City Local Municipality. Retrieved on Oct 6, 2009.
- ^ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Merafong City". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
- ^ Khumalo, Sibongile (2 September 2021). "Eskom wins judgment against Emfuleni municipality over R1.3 billion debt". news24.com. fin24. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ "Merafong Municipality working with Eskom to repay R700 million in debt". ewn.co.za. Eyewitness News. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.