The Pixley ka Seme District Municipality is a Category C municipality situated in the southeastern region of the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
Pixley ka Seme District Municipality
| Type of municipality: | District (Category C) |
| Province: | Northern Cape |
| Municipal code: | DC7 |
| Seat: | De Aar |
| Local municipalities: | 8 |
| Total area: | 103,411 km² (39,927 square miles) |
| Population: | 216,589 (in 2022) |
| Executive mayor: | Rhoode Itumeleng |
About
The Pixley ka Seme District Municipality is geographically situated in the southeastern corner of the Northern Cape province.
The District is named after the late Pixley ka Isaka Seme, one of the founders of the African National Congress (ANC).
The Pixley ka Seme District Municipality covers an area of 103,411 km² (39,927 square miles) and is the second-largest district in the Northern Cape province, after Namakwa.
Pixley ka Seme is the second-largest District Municipality in South Africa in terms of land size, following Namakwa as the largest.
Its headquarters/seat is in De Aar, which is also the District’s main town.
The District is divided into eight local municipalities namely;
- Emthanjeni Local Municipality
- Kareeberg Local Municipality
- Renosterberg Local Municipality
- Siyancuma Local Municipality
- Siyathemba Local Municipality
- Thembelihle Local Municipality
- Ubuntu Local Municipality
- Umsobomvu Local Municipality
The Pixley ka Seme District Municipality is bordered by District Municipalities, Frances Baard to the northeast, ZF Mgcawu to the north and northwest, Namakwa to the west, Central Karoo in the Western Cape to the south, Eastern Cape‘s Sarah Baartman, Chris Hani, and Joe Gqabi to the southeast, and Xhariep in the Free State to the east.
The District has seven main towns within its local municipalities. They are Carnavon, Colesberg, Douglas, Hopetown, Prieska, Victoria West, and De Aar (with De Aar being the largest of these towns). The closest major city to these towns is Bloemfontein in the Free State province.
In Siyancuma Local Municipality, Griekwastad, or Griquatown as it is sometimes known in English, the first town to be established north of the Orange River, is one of South Africa’s most important foundation towns.
Griekwastad was a stopover on the trade route and important for commerce throughout the history of South Africa. The town, 168 kilometres north of Kimberley, is also known for its abundance of semi-precious stones.
The District is also home to the Griqua currency, which became the first South African currency in 1815, according to the South African Reserve Bank.
The Griqua currency also became South Africa’s first decimal coinage and the world’s first Christian Missionary coinage. The town is considered an important missionary town and was the home of Scottish minister Robert Moffat, who wrote the first Sesotho translation of the bible.
Traffic linking the major industrial areas of the country flows through the District as it is located on some major National Routes such as the N1 from Cape Town through Colesberg to Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Polokwane. The N9 route from Colesberg joins the N10 to Gqeberha and the rest of the Eastern Cape, the N12 route from eMalahleni to Johannesburg, Kimberley to George, and the N10 from Namibia via Upington linking Namibia to the Eastern Cape all pass through the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality.
The railway network around De Aar is one of the largest in South Africa. Two of the major dams in South Africa, the Vanderkloof and Gariep Dams, are situated on the borders of the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality.
Map
Population
According to the South African National Census of 2022, the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality has a population of 216,589 residents, compared to 195,595 in 2016, and 186,351 in 2011.
The municipality has a population growth per annum of 1.46%.
According to the 2022 Census, 28.6% of the population is under the age of 15, 64.8% is between 15 and 64, and 6.7% is over 65.
Racial makeup
According to the 2022 Census, 59.2% of the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality population describe themselves as Coloured, 31.5% as Black African, 8.1% as White, and 0.6% as Indian/Asian.
Languages
According to the 2022 Census, 76.8% of the population speaks Afrikaans as their first language, 17.5% speak isiXhosa, 1.6% speak Setswana, 1.6% speak English, and 2.5% speak other languages.
Economy
The district’s main economic sectors are community services (26.6%), agriculture (16.6%), transport (15.1%), trade (12.9%), finance (12.8%), electricity (7.0%), construction (3.3%), manufacturing (3.2%), and mining (2.6%).
District council and management
| Composition of Council (No. of seats by political party) | – ANC: 5 – DA: 2 – EFF: 1 – SGB: 1 |
| Controlling Party | n/a |
| Executive Mayor | Rhoode Itumeleng |
| Deputy Executive Mayor | n/a |
| Speaker | Thandi Sintu |
| Chief Whip | A Kwinana |
| Other Council Members | – Koos Gous (Infrastructure, Housing, Planning and Development) – Vince P Harmse (MPAC) – Silvia Swartling (Corporate Services and Council Matters) – Norman S Van Wyk (Finance and District Development Model) |
| Municipal Manager | Isak Visser |
| Chief Financial Officer | Bradley F James |
| Senior Management | – Cindy De Leeuw (Manager: Support Services) – HP Greeff (Senior Manager: Infrastructure, Housing, Planning and Development) – TA Loko (Senior Manager: Corporate Services) – Asanda Sibeko (Manager: LED) – R Sors (Chief Audit Executive) |
| Communications Officers | Beatrice Bosch |
Towns/places
Below are the towns/places in the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality.
- Britstown
- Campbell
- Carnarvon
- Colesberg
- Copperton
- De Aar
- Douglas
- Griekwastad
- Hanover
- Hopetown
- Hutchinson
- Loxton
- Marydale
- Niekerkshoop
- Norvalspont
- Noupoort
- Petrusville
- Philipstown
- Prieska
- Richmond
- Schmidtsdrif
- Strydenburg
- Van der Kloof
- Vanwyksvlei
- Victoria West
- Vosburg
Contact details
The contact details of the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality are listed in the table below.
| Postal address: | Private Bag X1012, De Aar, 7000 |
| Physical address: | Culvert Road, De Aar |
| Telephone: | 053 631 0891 |
| Fax: | 053 631 2529 |
| Email: | pixley@telkomsa.net |
| Website: | www.pksdm.gov.za |
