Bitou Local Municipality

Bitou Local Municipality is a Category B municipality located in the far east of the Garden Route District Municipality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Overview

Type of municipality:Local Municipality (Category B)
MIIF classification:B3 (small towns)
Province:Western Cape
District:Garden Route
Municipal code:WC047
Seat:Plettenberg Bay
Number of wards:7
Total area:992 km² (383 square miles)
Population:65,240 (in 2022)
Executive mayor:David John Swart

About

Formerly known as Plettenberg Bay Municipality, Bitou Local Municipality is geographically situated in the far east of the Garden Route District Municipality.

Bitou Local Municipality covers an area of 992 km² (383 square miles) making it the smallest local municipality in the Garden Route District as it covers about 4% of its geographical area.

The municipality is divided into 7 wards.

The administrative headquarters/seat of Bitou Local Municipality is in Plettenberg Bay.

Bitou Local Municipality is bordered by:

Population

According to the South African National Census of 2022, Bitou Local Municipality has a population of 65,240 residents, compared to 59,157 in 2016, and 49,162 in 2011.

The municipality has a population growth per annum of 2.75%.

According to the 2022 Census, 22.5% of the population is under the age of 15, 69% is between 15 and 64, and 8.5% is over 65.

Racial makeup

According to the 2022 Census, 52.6% of the population in Bitou Local Municipality describe themselves as Black African, 28.8% as Coloured, 16.5% as White, and 0.3% as Indian/Asian.

Languages

According to the 2022 Census, 43.4% of the population speaks Afrikaans as their first language, 38% speak isiXhosa, 13.3% speak English, and 5.3% speak other languages.

Economy

The main economic sectors of Bitou Local Municipality are wholesale and retail trade, catering and accommodation, finance, insurance, real estate, business services, manufacturing, construction, transport, storage, communication, general government, community, social and personal services, agriculture, forestry and fishing.

Municipal council and management

The Bitou municipal council is comprised of 13 members elected by mixed-member proportional representation.

Seven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in 7 wards, while the remaining 6 are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.

In the November 2021 local government elections, a hung council was once again elected. The DA then formed a coalition with the PDC and AUF to govern the municipality with the DA mayoral candidate, Dave Swart, voted in as mayor.

Composition of Council (No. of seats by political party)DA: 5
ANC: 4
AUF: 1
IPM: 1
PA: 1
PDC: 1
Controlling partyDA/PDC/AUF Coalition
Executive MayorDavid John Swart
Deputy Executive MayorNokuzola Kolwapi
SpeakerSandiso Gcabayi
Chief WhipSamkele Mangxaba
Other Council Members– Jessica Kamkam
– Thembela Mhlana
– Heinright Mitchell
Municipal ManagerMbulelo Memani
Chief Financial OfficerFelix Martin Lötter
Senior Management– Alan Croutz (Manager: Legal Services)
– Victor Felton (Director: Engineering Services)
– David Friedman (Acting Director: Economic Development and Planning)
– Melony Paulsen (Director: Community Services)
– Tanya Wildeman (Acting Director: Corporate Services)
Communications OfficersAndile Namtu (Manager: Communications)

Towns/places

Below are the towns/places in Bitou Local Municipality.

  • Keurboomstrand
  • Krantshoek
  • Kurland
  • Kwanokuthula
  • Nature’s Valley
  • Plettenberg Bay
  • Wittedrift

Contact details

The contact details of Bitou Local Municipality are listed in the table below.

Postal address:Private Bag X1002, Plettenberg Bay, 6600
Physical address:4 Sewell Street, Plettenberg Bay
Telephone:044 501 3000
Fax:044 533 6198
Email:communications@plett.gov.za
Website:www.bitou.gov.za