The Khâi-Ma Local Municipality is a Category B municipality located in the central northern region of the Namakwa District Municipality in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.
Overview
| Type of municipality: | Local Municipality (Category B) |
| MIIF classification: | B3 (small towns) |
| Province: | Northern Cape |
| District: | Namakwa |
| Municipal code: | NC067 |
| Seat: | Pofadder |
| Number of wards: | 6 |
| Total area: | 15,715 km² (6,068 square miles) |
| Population: | 8,510 (in 2022) |
| Executive mayor: | Estella Cloete |
About
The Khâi-Ma Local Municipality is geographically located in the central northern region of the Namakwa District Municipality, which is the furthest north in terms of the provincial boundaries. The Orange River, which flows to the west coast, is the northern border of Khâi-Ma Local Municipality.
Khâi-Ma is a Khoekhoe word meaning “to stand up”.
The Khâi-Ma Local Municipality comprises 6 wards and covers an area of 15,715 km² (6,068 square miles), making it the fourth-largest of six local municipalities in the Namakwa District, as it accounts for 12% of its geographical area.
The administrative headquarters/seat of the Khâi-Ma Local Municipality is in Pofadder, about 165 kilometres east of Springbok and 220 kilometres west of Upington.
The Khâi-Ma Local Municipality is bordered by:
- Nama Khoi and Kamiesberg Local Municipalities to the west
- Hantam Local Municipality to the south and east
- Kai !Garib Local Municipality in the ZF Mgcawu District Municipality to the east
- The Republic of Namibia to the north
The Khâi-Ma Municipality is deemed to be a low-capacity municipality and shares executive and legislative authority with the Namakwa District Municipality.
The Khâi-Ma Municipality faces developmental challenges, such as unemployment, severe poverty, and service delivery backlogs.
The municipality is characterized by vast tracts of land, pristine natural environment, unique mountains and limited cell phone reception.
Khâi-Ma Local Municipality can be reached by a national route (N14), regional route (R358), Loop 10 from different ways and are also connected to Namibia through one of the roads (R358) and a gravel road from the turn off to Pella to Witbank via Goodhouse and Steinkopf in the Nama Khoi Municipality.
Population
According to the South African National Census of 2022, the Khâi-Ma Local Municipality has a population of 8,510 people, compared to 12,333 in 2016 and 12,446 in 2011.
The municipality has a population growth per annum of -3.69%.
According to the 2022 Census, 25% of the population is under the age of 15, 68.9% is between 15 and 64, and 6.1% is over 65.
Racial makeup
According to the 2022 Census, 75.1% of the population in Khâi-Ma Local Municipality describe themselves as Coloured, 17.6% as Black African, 6% as White, and 0.4% as Indian/Asian.
Languages
According to the 2022 Census, 83.3% of the population speaks Afrikaans as their first language, 10.9% speak Setswana, 2.2% speak isiXhosa, 1.2% speak English, and 2.4% speak other languages.
Economy
The main economic sectors of the Khâi-Ma Local Municipality are mining, community services, agriculture, tourism, personal, and social services.
Mining
The Khâi-Ma Local Municipality is extremely rich in mineral deposits.
The mining town of Aggeneys is South Africa’s main source of lead production. The main zinc deposits in the Northern Cape Province can be found at Gamsberg near Aggeneys.
Tourism
The Khâi-Ma Local Municipality can benefit a lot from tourism through aggressive marketing, however, the inhabitants have to be motivated and assisted to develop their interest and skills to promote this industry.
All attractions such as hiking trails, canoeing, 4 x 4 routes, Pella R.C. Cathedral, the Nama culture, and art should be well packaged for tourists to be guided properly.
Municipal council and management
The Khâi-Ma municipal council comprises 11 members elected by mixed-member proportional representation.
Six councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in 6 wards, while the remaining 5 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) won a majority of 6 seats on the council.
| Composition of Council (No. of seats by political party) | – ANC: 6 – NCM: 2 – COPE: 1 – DA: 1 – EFF: 1 |
| Controlling party | ANC |
| Executive Mayor | Estella Cloete |
| Speaker | Bernard J Bock |
| Chief Whip | Edgar J Mowers |
| Other Council Members | n/a |
| Municipal Manager | Samantha Tatas-Titus |
| Chief Financial Officer | n/a |
| Senior Management | – Hendry Christiaans (Technical Service Manager) – Jan Liebenberg (Corporate Service Manager) |
| Communications Officers | Alfredo Green |
Towns/places
Below are the towns/places in the Khâi-Ma Local Municipality.
- Aggeneys
- Blyvooruitsig
- Dwagga Soutpan
- Klein Pella
- Onseepkans
- Pella
- Pofadder
- Raap
- Skraap
- Vrugbaar
- Witbank
Contact details
The contact details of the Khâi-Ma Local Municipality are listed in the table below.
| Postal Address: | P.O. Box 108, Pofadder, 8890 |
| Physical Address: | 21 Nuwe Street, Pofadder, 8890 |
| Telephone: | 054 933 1000 |
| Fax: | 054 933 0252 |
| Email: | mmsecretary@khaima.gov.za |
| Website: | www.khaima.gov.za |
