Politics
The municipal council consists of thirteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Seven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in seven wards, while the remaining six 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 seven seats on the council.
The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.
| Party | Votes | Vote % | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ward | List | Total | ||||
| Democratic Alliance | 15,876 | 53.0 | 5 | 2 | 7 | |
| African National Congress | 10,437 | 34.9 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| Congress of the People | 3,377 | 11.3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| The People's Independent Civic Organisation | 179 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| South African Progressive Civic Organisation | 74 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 29,943 | 100.00 | 7 | 6 | 13 | |
| Spoilt votes | 272 | |||||
The local council sends two representatives to the council of the West Coast District Municipality: one from the Democratic Alliance and one from the African National Congress.
Read more about this topic: Bergrivier Local Municipality
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“Politics begin where the masses are, not where there are thousands, but where there are millions, that is where serious politics begin.”
—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870–1924)
“The will to change begins in the body not in the mind
My politics is in my body, accruing and expanding with every act of resistance and each of my failures.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“The history of American politics is littered with bodies of people who took so pure a position that they had no clout at all.”
—Ben C. Bradlee (b. 1921)