Sunday's River Valley Local Municipality


Sundays River Valley Local Municipality is a local municipality in Sarah Baartman District Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It has a total population of nearly 70,000 people. This area is one of the key production areas for citrus in South Africa. It also encompasses the Addo Elephant National Park and other significant areas of nature conservation.

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:
PlaceCodeArea PopulationMost spoken language
Addo Elephant National Park1.0890Xhosa
Addo3.211,752Afrikaans
Barsheba0.61517Xhosa
Bontrug2.336,806Xhosa
Enon0.40782Afrikaans
Kirkwood3.072,749Afrikaans
KwaZenzele3.623,733Xhosa
Nomathamsanqa1.539,266Xhosa
Paterson0.22671Afrikaans
Remainder of the municipality3,491.8315,218Xhosa

Politics

The municipal council consists of sixteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Eight councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in eight 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 the African National Congress won a majority of eleven seats on the council.
The following table shows the results of the election.

Geography and land use

The municipality derives its name from the 250 km long Sundays River, the fastest flowing river in South Africa. The river winds its way through the Zuurberg mountains and passes Kirkwood in the fertile Sundays River Valley; it empties into the Indian Ocean at Algoa Bay near Port Elizabeth.
To the north of Kirkwood lies the Rietberg mountain with the Uyepoort that provides passage to the Zuurberg mountains and the Greater Addo Elephant National Park. A panoramic view of Kirkwood and the orange groves is visible from The Lookout. The Lookout is also known as a site where large dinosaur fossils have been dug up by archeologists. The first complete dinosaur fossil to be found in South Africa, nicknamed "Kirky," was found not far from Kirkwood.
The municipality comprises three regions with distinct characteristics:
The municipality's population is 63% urban and 37% rural. 64% of the population are 34 years old or younger. Suggested unemployment rate figures range from 20% to 44%. In 2001, among persons older than 20 years, 5461 had had no schooling, 7642 had had some primary education, 2487 had completed primary school, another 6594 had had some secondary education, 2363 had finished Grade 12, and 827 had gone on to some higher level of schooling.
Among individual residents, 41.63% earned no income in 2001; 45.74% earned R800 or less per month; 6.96% earned between R801 and R1600 per month; 5.71% earned over R1600 per month.
Approximately half of the municipality's households live on less than R800 per month.

Economy

The agricultural industry, centering mainly around citrus fruit, dairy and chicory farming, plays a major role in the economy and functioning of the region; it alone counts for 31.2% of the GGP and 47.7% of employment.
Approximately 25% of South Africa’s navel oranges and 50% of the country’s lemons are produced in the Sunday’s River Valley. The area exports million of cartons of navel oranges per year, earning more than R1 billion in foreign exchange for the country. Other agricultural products include vegetables, potatoes, maize, wheat, chicory, flowers and rye grass.
Ecotourism is another driving force of the local economy, thanks to the presence of vast unspoiled wilderness areas. Addo receives about 115 000 visitors each year, of which 50% are foreign, and this figure is on the increase.