Gamagara Local Municipality

Gamagara
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Northern Cape
Coordinates: 27°40′S23°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	8
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Henriette du Plessis [2] (DA)
Area
• Total	2,619 km2 (1,011 sq mi)
Population  (2011) [3]
• Total	41,617
• Density	16/km2 (41/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [3]
•  Black African	55.0%
•  Coloured	28.7%
•  Indian/Asian	0.6%
•  White	14.0%
First languages (2011) [4]
•  Afrikaans	53.9%
•  Tswana	33.7%
•  English	3.6%
•  Sotho	1.4%
• Other	7.4%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	NC453

Gamagara Municipality (Afrikaans : Gamagara Munisipaliteit; Tswana : Mmasepala wa Gamagara) is a local municipality within the John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality, in the Northern Cape province of 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). ^[5]

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places: ^[6]

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population
Dibeng	32401	8.58	4,023
Dingleton	32402	1.56	2,866
Ditloung	31903	0.62	3,044
Kathu	32404	8.53	8,247
Olifantshoek	31907	3.51	3,985
Remainder of the municipality	32403	2,449.38	1,048

Politics

Main article: Gamagara Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of fifteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Eight councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in eight wards, while the remaining 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 no party obtained a majority of seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election. ^{[7] [8]}

Gamagara local election, 1 November 2021
Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	African National Congress	4,973	4,961	9,934	43.1%	6	1	7
	Democratic Alliance	3,931	4,005	7,936	34.4%	2	3	5
	Gamagara Community Forum	1,556	1,503	3,059	13.3%	0	2	2
	Economic Freedom Fighters	861	798	1,659	7.2%	0	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	220	218	438	1.9%	0	0	0
	South African Royal Kingdoms Organization	6	36	42	0.2%	0	0	0
Total		11,547	11,521	23,068		8	7	15
Valid votes		11,547	11,521	23,068	98.7%
Spoilt votes		146	151	297	1.3%
Total votes cast		11,693	11,672	23,365
Voter turnout		11,707
Registered voters		23,135
Turnout percentage		50.6%

References

1. "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
2. Hoo, Sandi Kwon (2023-05-29). "New DA mayor for Gamagara Municipality". DFA. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
3. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
4. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
5. South African Languages - Place names
6. Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
7. "Results Summary - All Ballots" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
8. "Seat Calculation Detail" (PDF). Electoral Commission of South Africa. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.

External links

• Official website