The municipality covers an area of between the Langeberg mountains and the Indian Ocean, stretching from the Breede River in the west to the Gourits River in the east. It abuts on the Swellendam Municipality to the west, the Kannaland Municipality to the north, the Oudtshoorn Municipality to the northeast, and the Mossel Bay Municipality to the east. According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 52,642 people in 15,873 households. Of this population, 68.5% describe themselves as "Coloured"rem. red, 23.2% as "White", and 7.4% as "Black African". The first language of 92.4% of the population is Afrikaans, while 3.6% speak English and 2.1% speak Xhosa. The largest town in the municipality is Riversdale, which as of 2011 has a population of 16,176. Riversdale, which is the location of the municipal headquarters, is located on the Vet River close to the foothills of the Langeberg. Heidelberg and Slangrivier are to the west of Riversdale, while Albertinia is to the east. Stilbaai is on the coast south of Riversdale at the mouth of the Vet River, with Groot-Jongensfontein and Melkhoutfontein nearby. Witsand is on the western edge of the municipality at the mouth of the Breede River, while Gouritsmond is on the eastern edge at the mouth of the Gourits River.
Politics
The municipal council consists of seventeen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Nine councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in nine wards, while the remaining eight 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 no party obtained a majority; the Democratic Alliance and the Freedom Front Plus subsequently formed a coalition to govern the municipality. The following table shows the results of the 2016 election. The local council sends two representatives to the council of the Garden Route District Municipality: one from the Democratic Alliance and one from the African National Congress. In a by-election held on 10 April 2019, a ward previously held by an ANC councillor was won by the DA candidate. The DA now holds an outright majority in the council. Council composition was reconfigured as seen below:
