City of Cape Town Stad Kaapstad (Afrikaans) IsiXeko saseKapa (Xhosa) |
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Metropolitan municipality | ||
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Location in the Western Cape |
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Coordinates: 34°0′S 18°30′E / 34.000°S 18.500°ECoordinates: 34°0′S 18°30′E / 34.000°S 18.500°E | ||
Country | South Africa | |
Province | Western Cape | |
Seat | Cape Town | |
Wards | 115 | |
Government | ||
• Type | Municipal council | |
• Mayor | Patricia de Lille (DA) | |
• Deputy Mayor | Ian Neilson | |
Area | ||
• Total | 2,445 km2 (944 sq mi) | |
Population (2011) | ||
• Total | 3,740,026 | |
• Density | 1,500/km2 (4,000/sq mi) | |
Racial makeup (2011) | ||
• Black African | 38.6% | |
• Coloured | 42.4% | |
• Indian/Asian | 1.4% | |
• White | 15.7% | |
First languages (2011) | ||
• Afrikaans | 35.7% | |
• Xhosa | 29.8% | |
• English | 28.4% | |
• Other | 6.1% | |
Time zone | SAST (UTC+2) | |
Municipal code | CPT |
The City of Cape Town (Afrikaans: Stad Kaapstad; Xhosa: IsiXeko saseKapa) is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,740,026.
The remote Prince Edward Islands are deemed to be part of the City of Cape Town, specifically of ward 55.
Cape Town first received local self-government in 1839, with the promulgation of a municipal ordinance by the government of the Cape Colony. When it was created, the Cape Town municipality governed only the central part of the city known as the City Bowl, and as the city expanded, new suburbs became new municipalities, until by 1902 there were 10 separate municipalities in the Cape Peninsula. During the 20th century, many of the suburban municipalities became unsustainable and merged into the Cape Town municipality or combined with other suburbs; but at the end of apartheid in 1994 the metropolitan area was still divided up into several separate municipalities.
As part of the post-1994 reforms, municipal government experienced a complete overhaul. In 1996 the Cape Town metropolitan area was divided into six municipalities – Cape Town/Central, Tygerberg, South Peninsula, Blaauwberg, Oostenberg and Helderberg – along with a Metropolitan Administration to oversee the whole metropolitan area. At the time of the 2000 municipal elections these various structures were merged to form the City of Cape Town as a single metropolitan municipality governing the whole metropolitan area. It is for this reason that the City of Cape Town is sometimes referred to as the "Unicity".