Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality is a Category B municipality in the western region of the Sarah Baartman District Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
Overview
| Type of municipality: | Local Municipality (Category B) |
| MIIF classification: | B3 (small towns) |
| Province: | Eastern Cape |
| District: | Sarah Baartman |
| Municipal code: | EC101 |
| Seat: | Graaff-Reinet |
| Number of wards: | 12 |
| Total area: | 28,653 km² (11,063 square miles) |
| Population: | 101,001 (in 2022) |
| Executive mayor: | Willem Safers |
About
The Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality was established on 8 August 2016 after the local government elections held on 3 August 2016. It resulted from a merger between the former Municipalities of Baviaans, Ikwezi, and Camdeboo.
The Municipal Demarcation Board had decided to merge the three municipalities mentioned above in 2015, but the merger only took effect after municipal elections on 3 August 2016. The new municipality was named after the Afrikaner Calvinist and anti-apartheid activist Beyers Naudé.
This merger was motivated by political interests because the ruling party at the time, the African National Congress, was losing support in the area. One of the municipalities, Baviaans, was already governed by the opposition Democratic Alliance.
The Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality is geographically located in the western and northern regions of the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, stretching from the Sneeuberg Mountains in the north to the Baviaanskloof in the south.
Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality comprises 12 electoral wards and covers an area of 28,653 km² (11,063 square miles), making it the largest of seven local municipalities in the Sarah Baartman District, as it accounts for half of its geographical area.
Due to its huge size, the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality is the third-largest local municipality in South Africa.
The Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality is bordered by:
- Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality in the Chris Hani District Municipality to the northeast
- Blue Crane Route and Sundays River Valley Local Municipalities to the east
- Kouga Local Municipality to the southeast
- Kou-Kamma Local Municipality to the south
- George Local Municipality in the Garden Route District in the Western Cape Province to the south
- Oudtshoorn Local Municipality in the Garden Route District in the Western Cape Province to the southwest
- Prince Albert and Beaufort West Local Municipalities in the Central Karoo District in the Western Cape Province to the west
- Ubuntu Local Municipality in the Pixley ka Seme District in the Northern Cape Province to the north
This huge municipality includes the towns of Aberdeen, Graaff-Reinet, Jansenville, Klipplaat, Nieu-Bethesda, Rietbron, Steytlerville, and Willowmore, as well as several smaller settlements and surrounding farms.
Each of these towns has unique dynamics and attractions that draw visitors from far and wide, many of whom have made the Dr Beyers Naudé Municipality their home.
The administrative headquarters/seat of the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality is in Graaff-Reinet, the largest and main town of the municipality. Graaff-Reinet is the fourth-oldest town in South Africa and is referred to as the “Gem of the Karoo”. The town is a hub of agritourism activity and is also home to the largest population of the municipality.
The municipality’s second-largest town is Willowmore, also with a strong and vibrant agricultural and tourism sector. Willowmore is a strategically well-positioned centre for coordinating and managing service delivery and public participation in the southernmost region of the municipality.
The municipality has large tracts of commercial farmland that are sparsely populated. The most densely populated areas are found in and around the established main towns. There are long distances between the main centres, meanwhile some of the smaller towns and settlements can only be reached by unsurfaced (gravel) roads, not all of which are maintained in time. The most difficult areas to access are situated within the Baviaanskloof.
The Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality is strategically positioned as a portal to the mystical Karoo, in a region renowned for its unique natural and rich cultural heritage, pristine natural environment, diverse peoples and cultures.
The municipality boasts several popular tourist attractions, a healthy climate, and beautiful landscapes.
With regards to agriculture, the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality is the biggest mohair producer in South Africa. The municipality is also known for its wool, red meat production (beef, sheep, goats), poultry, game, and crop farming.
With regards to tourism, the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality is home to the Baviaanskloof World Heritage Site, the Valley of Desolation, Camdeboo and Addo Elephant National Parks, Private Game Reserves, indigenous fauna and flora, beautiful Churches, interesting Museums (for example, the Reinet House, The Owl House, and Piet Fourie Museum), craft shops, and initiatives in Baviaanskloof, Steytlerville, Vondeling, and Rietbron.
Other attractions in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality are the old Blackstone engines and historical cemeteries in Willowmore, the Valley of the Flags in Steytlerville, the Old Fort in Jansenville, and many other Heritage Sites.
Several well-known personalities have carved a niche in South Africa’s history and are closely associated with the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality, these are; Anton Rupert, Dr Beyers Naudé, Athol Fugard, Pastor Andrew Murray, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, Professor James Kitching, Anna Neethling-Pohl, Andries Pretorius, DF Malan, Helen Martins.
Being situated in an arid area within the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality faces several challenges, the biggest of which is water shortage.
The towns of Nieu-Bethesda and Aberdeen are privileged to have perennial springs that supply them with adequate and clean water, which is used for both irrigation and domestic consumption.
Graaff-Reinet gets its water supply from the Nqweba Dam, which, when dry, the town depends on borehole water – an unreliable source as the water table drops drastically when the rain stays away.
Other towns, such as Steytlerville and Willowmore, experience critical shortages sometimes. Water quality is a problem in other areas, such as Jansenville.
The lack of a permanent and sustainable water supply is, without doubt, the most restricting factor in the municipality’s economic development, as it restricts industrial and agricultural activities.
Another big challenge of particular concern is how the massive geographic size of the newly merged Municipal area has impacted on the delimitation of Ward boundaries, placing towns and settlements that are not only huge distances apart, but have wholly different situations and needs, in the same Ward – making Community-based planning and service delivery very difficult for the new Municipality and its Ward Councillors.
Some towns and settlements in the split Wards are also spatially divided by geographic features such as rivers, mountains, and farms, and are not linked to each other by direct routes, some are more than 50 kilometres apart.
Even the Camdeboo National Park appears to now straddle two Wards, namely 2 and 7, and the Camdeboo National Park / Mountain Zebra National Park Protected Environment, currently 275,082 hectares in extent, is a good example of a cross-boundary partnership. The Protected Environment straddles two Local and two District Municipal areas.
Population
According to the South African National Census of 2022, Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality has a population of 101,001 people, compared to 82,197 in 2016 and 79,292 in 2011.
The municipality has a population growth per annum of 2.35%.
According to the 2022 Census, 28.3% of the population is under the age of 15, 63.6% is between 15 and 64, and 8.1% is over 65.
Racial makeup
According to the 2022 Census, 66.9% of the population in Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality describe themselves as Coloured, 23.6% as Black African, 8.7% as White, and 0.4% as Indian/Asian.
Languages
According to the 2022 Census, 80.3% of the population speaks Afrikaans as their first language, 14.8% speak isiXhosa, 3.2% speak English, and 1.7% speak other languages.
Economy
The main economic sectors of Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality are agriculture, community services, tourism, and finance.
Municipal council and management
The Dr Beyers Naudé municipal council is comprised of 24 members elected by mixed-member proportional representation.
Twelve councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in 12 wards, while the remaining 12 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 won a majority of seats on the council.
| Composition of Council (No. of seats by political party) | – ANC: 11 – DA: 10 – CSA: 1 – EFF: 1 – VF PLUS: 1 |
| Controlling party | ANC/CSA/EFF Coalition |
| Executive Mayor | Willem Safers |
| Speaker | Cheslin Felix |
| Chief Whip | Thembekile Spogter |
| Other Council Members | – Khunjuzwa Eunice Kekana (Chairperson: Community Services Committee) – Willem Safers (Chairperson: Infrastructure Services Committee) |
| Municipal Manager | Dr Edward Martin Rankwana |
| Chief Financial Officer | J Joubert |
| Senior Management | – Edwardine Abader (Acting Director: Community Services) – Bennie Arends (Director: Infrastructure Services) – Hans Hendricks (Senior Manager: Strategic Services) – Zoleka Viola Kali (Director: Corporate Services) – Annella Koeberg (Chairperson: Municipal Public Accounts Committee) – Ewald Loock (Chairperson Budget and Treasury Committee) – Eldridge Ruiters (Chairperson Corporate Services Committee) |
| Communications Officers | V Jantjies |
Towns/places
Below are the towns/places in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality.
- Aberdeen
- Adendorp
- Graaff-Reinet
- Jansenville
- Kendrew
- Klipplaat
- Nieu-Bethesda
- Rietbron
- Steytlerville
- Waterford
- Willowmore
Contact details
The contact details of the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality are listed in the table below.
| Postal Address: | P.O. Box 71, Graaff-Reinet, 6280 |
| Physical Address: | 12 Church Square, Graaff-Reinet, 6280 |
| Telephone (Switchboard): | 049 807 5700 |
| Customer Care (Call Centre): | 049 807 5904 |
| Fax: | 049 892 4319 |
| Email: | danielse@bnlm.gov.za |
| Website: | www.bnlm.gov.za |
