Politics
The municipal council consists of forty-one members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-one councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-one wards, while the remaining twenty 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 18 May 2011 the Democratic Alliance (DA) obtained a majority of twenty-two seats on the council.
The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.
| Party | Votes | Vote % | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ward | List | Total | ||||
| Democratic Alliance | 45,380 | 52.7 | 13 | 9 | 22 | |
| African National Congress | 28,115 | 32.7 | 6 | 8 | 14 | |
| Breedevallei Onafhanklik | 3,269 | 3.8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| Independent | 2,295 | 2.7 | 1 | – | 1 | |
| Congress of the People | 2,177 | 2.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Civic Independent | 1,225 | 1.4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| South African Progressive Civic Organisation | 872 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| African Christian Democratic Party | 774 | 0.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| National People's Party | 582 | 0.7 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Democratic Christian Party | 536 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Freedom Front Plus | 487 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Western Cape Community | 275 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| United Democratic Movement | 108 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 86,095 | 100.0 | 21 | 20 | 41 | |
| Spoilt votes | 2,705 | |||||
The local council sends five representatives to the council of the Cape Winelands District Municipality: three from the Democratic Alliance and two from the African National Congress.
Read more about this topic: Breede Valley Local Municipality
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“We are naïve and moralistic women. We are human beings. Who find politics a blight upon the human condition. And do not know how one copes with it except through politics.”
—Kate Millett (b. 1934)
“Politics is not an end, but a means. It is not a product, but a process. It is the art of government. Like other values it has its counterfeits. So much emphasis has been placed upon the false that the significance of the true has been obscured and politics has come to convey the meaning of crafty and cunning selfishness, instead of candid and sincere service.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“The trouble with Nixon is that he’s a serious politics junkie. He’s totally hooked ... and like any other junkie, he’s a bummer to have around: especially as President.”
—Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1939)