West Rand District Municipality
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
West Rand is the name of the urban western part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation. This area became settled by Europeans after a gold-bearing reef discovered in 1886 and sparked the gold rush that gave rise to the establishment of Johannesburg.
The West Rand extends from Randfontein in the west to Roodepoort in the east, and includes the town of Krugersdorp. The areas of Carletonville and Westonaria are sometimes included as being part of the Far West Rand. The areas are economically linked to the city through the gold mining industry. Following the creation of the Johannesburg unicity in 1999, Roodepoort, which was traditionally always part of the West Rand, became part of Johannesburg municipality. After 1999, much of the area became part of the newly-formed West Rand District Municipality[1].
Despite being a separate municipal area, like the East Rand, the West Rand is included in the Greater Johannesburg metropolitan area. To this end, the West Rand shares the same dialling code as Johannesburg (011 locally). It is not uncommon for residents of the West Rand to work in Johannesburg proper and vice versa.
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[edit] District municipality
West Rand is one of the districts of Gauteng province of South Africa. The seat of West Rand is Randfontein. The majority of its 744 168 people speak Setswana (2001 Census). The district code is CBDC8.
[edit] Geography
[edit] Neighbours
West Rand is surrounded by:
- Bojanala Platinum (DC37) to the north
- Tshwane (Pretoria) to the north-east
- Johannesburg to the east
- Sedibeng (DC42) to the south-east
- Southern (DC40) to the south-west
[edit] Local municipalities
The district contains the following local municipalities:
| Local municipality | Population | % |
|---|---|---|
| Mogale City | 289 714 | 38.93% |
| Merafong City | 210 484 | 28.28% |
| Randfontein | 128 848 | 17.31% |
| Westonaria | 109 324 | 14.69% |
| West Rand | 5 783 | 0.78% |
[edit] Demographics
The following statistics are from the 2001 census.
| Language | Population | % |
|---|---|---|
| Tswana | 215 507 | 28.96% |
| Afrikaans | 126 338 | 16.98% |
| Xhosa | 123 501 | 16.60% |
| Sotho | 86 236 | 11.59% |
| Zulu | 63 541 | 8.54% |
| Tsonga | 38 410 | 5.16% |
| English | 35 811 | 4.81% |
| Northern Sotho | 22 618 | 3.04% |
| Other | 10 587 | 1.42% |
| Swati | 9 918 | 1.33% |
| Venda | 8 927 | 1.20% |
| Ndebele | 2 759 | 0.37% |
[edit] Gender
| Gender | Population | % |
|---|---|---|
| Male | 400 157 | 53.77% |
| Female | 344 011 | 46.23% |
[edit] Ethnic group
| Ethnic group | Population | % |
|---|---|---|
| Black African | 586 665 | 78.84% |
| White | 132 849 | 17.85% |
| Coloured | 17 531 | 2.36% |
| Indian/Asian | 7 123 | 0.96% |
[edit] Age
| Age | Population | % |
|---|---|---|
| 000 - 004 | 63 062 | 8.47% |
| 005 - 009 | 55 983 | 7.52% |
| 010 - 014 | 55 746 | 7.49% |
| 015 - 019 | 58 721 | 7.89% |
| 020 - 024 | 72 868 | 9.79% |
| 025 - 029 | 82 601 | 11.10% |
| 030 - 034 | 77 616 | 10.43% |
| 035 - 039 | 76 425 | 10.27% |
| 040 - 044 | 65 412 | 8.79% |
| 045 - 049 | 46 479 | 6.25% |
| 050 - 054 | 31 153 | 4.19% |
| 055 - 059 | 19 826 | 2.66% |
| 060 - 064 | 14 459 | 1.94% |
| 065 - 069 | 9 058 | 1.22% |
| 070 - 074 | 6 526 | 0.88% |
| 075 - 079 | 4 177 | 0.56% |
| 080 - 084 | 2 561 | 0.34% |
| 085 - 089 | 897 | 0.12% |
| 090 - 094 | 395 | 0.05% |
| 095 - 099 | 130 | 0.02% |
| 100 plus | 73 | 0.01% |
[edit] Politics
[edit] Election results
Election results for West Rand in the South African general election, 2004.
- Population 18 and over: 535 436 [71.95% of total population]
- Total votes: 267 225 [35.91% of total population]
- Voting % estimate: 49.91% votes as a % of population 18 and over
| Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| African National Congress | 196 513 | 73.54% |
| Democratic Alliance | 41 008 | 15.35% |
| Inkhata Freedom Party | 6 748 | 2.53% |
| Freedom Front Plus | 4 235 | 1.58% |
| United Democratic Movement | 4 093 | 1.53% |
| African Christian Democratic Party | 3 301 | 1.24% |
| Independent Democrats | 3 076 | 1.15% |
| Pan African Congress | 2 481 | 0.93% |
| New National Party | 1 645 | 0.62% |
| United Christian Democratic Party | 1 244 | 0.47% |
| Azanian People's Organisation | 1 215 | 0.45% |
| UF | 350 | 0.13% |
| CDP | 338 | 0.13% |
| SOPA | 258 | 0.10% |
| NA | 242 | 0.09% |
| PJC | 182 | 0.07% |
| TOP | 82 | 0.03% |
| EMSA | 64 | 0.02% |
| KISS | 61 | 0.02% |
| Minority Front | 59 | 0.02% |
| NLP | 30 | 0.01% |
| Total | 267 225 | 100.00% |
[edit] References
- West Rand DM Official Website
- Municipal Demarcation Board
- Stats SA Census 2001 page
- Independent Electoral Commission 2004 election results
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Province of Gauteng |
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|---|---|---|
| Provincial Capital: | ||
| Major Metros: | ||
| District Municipalities: |
Sedibeng , West Rand, Metsweding |
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| Cities: | ||
| Smaller Cities: |
