The municipality covers a total area of, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Doring River in the east. The Olifants River flows from south to north through the center of the municipal area. The Cederberg mountains rise from the eastern bank of the river. To the west of the river are lower ranges of hills descending to the coastal plain. The municipality abuts on the Matzikama Municipality to the north, the Hantam Municipality to the east, and the Witzenberg and Bergrivier Municipalities to the south. According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 49,768 people in 13,513 households. Of this population, 75.7% describe themselves as "Coloured", 12.7% as "Black African", and 11.0% as "White". The first language of 88.7% of the population is Afrikaans, while 5.0% speak Xhosa, 2.5% speak Sotho and 1.9% speak English. The principal towns of the municipality are Clanwilliam and Citrusdal in the Olifants River valley, and Lambert's Bay on the coastline. There are smaller agricultural settlements at Graafwater and Leipoldtville, and a coastal village at Elands Bay.
Politics
The municipal council consists of eleven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Six councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in six wards, while the remaining five 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 3 August 2016, the Democratic Alliance won a majority of seats on the council, defeating the ANC, which previously had a majority. DA lost this majority in 2018 and formed a coalition with the Alliance of Democratic Congress to retain control of the municipality. On 26 June 2019, DA councillor Bertie Zass voted with the ANC to remove the DA-ADC coalition from power. The elected Executive Mayor was Sylvia Quinta with Mariaan Nell as the Deputy Executive Mayor. The appointed Speaker was Paul Strauss. They are all party members of the African National Congress. The ward Zass previously held automatically became vacant, because of his party defection. On 22 July 2019, the Western Cape High Court ruled that the elections of the ANC councillors to senior municipal positions were unlawful. The court ordered the reinstatement of DA Mayor William Farmer and ADC Deputy Mayor Francina Sokuyeka.However, in a by-election held on 18 September 2019, the ANC won the vacant ward from the DA. The ANC now holds a majority in the council. The following table shows the results of the 2016 election. The DA subsequently lost two seats to the African National Congress in by-elections held on 12 December 2018, and 18 September 2019. The council was reconfigured as seen below: The local council sends two representatives to the council of the West Coast District Municipality: one from the ANC and one from the DA.
