Municipalities in the Western Cape

Local municipalities are one of the 3 spheres of government and the level of government which is closest to the people. There's a total of 30 municipalities in the Western Cape. These are grouped by region into 1 Metropolitan municipality, 5 rural Districts municipalities and 24 Local municipalities.

The Western Cape’s only metropolitan municipality is the City of Cape Town. 

The role of municipalities is to provide basic services, as well as promote a safe and healthy environment, and community development. Their responsibilities include:

• management of water,
• sanitation,
• refuse removal,
• firefighting,
• local public transport,
• parks and recreational areas,
• local tourism and,
• libraries.

There are 3 different kinds of municipalities in the Western Cape, each with its own area of responsibility.

Metropolitan municipalities

We have 1 metropolitan municipality in the Western Cape. A metropolitan municipality (referred to as Category A) has more than 500 000 permanent residents that co-ordinates service delivery like firefighting services, refuse removal, and local public transport for the entire region.

These types of municipalities are divided into wards and have exclusive municipal executive and legislative authority in their areas. This means that the mayoral executive council can function independently and have single metropolitan budgets, common property ratings and service-tariff systems, as well as single employer bodies.

District and local municipalities

Local municipalities (referred to as Category B municipalities) form the third sphere of local government and are usually the arm of government closest to the people.

Each municipality is broken into wards, and the residents in each ward are represented by a ward councillor. They’re governed by municipal councils which are elected by voters who live in that specific municipal area. Municipalities may include rural areas as well as 1 or more towns or small cities. 

They’re tasked primarily with developing and implementing sustainable ways to:

• meet community needs and improve the quality of their lives with the provision of basic services,
• provide a democratic and accountable government for local communities,
• ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner,
• promote social and economic development,
• promote a safe and healthy environment, and
• encourage the involvement of communities and community organisations in the matters of the municipality.

District municipalities (referred to as Category C) administer and make rules for a district, which includes more than 1 local municipality. Some district municipalities also include nature reserves and the areas where few people live. These so-called ‘district management areas’ fall directly under the district council and have no local municipality. 

District municipalities and local municipalities share the responsibility for local government in their areas in order to ensure that all communities, particularly disadvantaged communities, have equal access to resources and services.

Below is a map of the District Municipalities and Municipalities of the Western Cape

For a map of the wards in the Western Cape please use the Municipal Demarcation Board map.