Background Data as at June 2014

Karoo Hoogland Municipality consists of Sutherland, Williston and Fraserburg and surrounding rural area.

The municipality comprises an area of 32 274 km2 and falls within the area of jurisdiction of Namakwa District Municipality.

• Households * 2204 (Households serviced)
• Population * 11601 (Sensus 2011)
• Registered erven * 4398
• Total Households * 3388 (Including Rural areas)
• Indigents * 1035

• Households with access to water and basic services: 2204
• Households with access to sanitation: 2204
• Households with access to electricity: 1984
• Households with access to refuse removal: 2204

Karoo Hoogland Municipality have a total population of approximately 11 601 according to STATS SA Survey done in 2011. Karoo Hoogland is situated in the most Southern part of the Northern Cape and falls within the area of jurisdiction of Namaqua District Municipality with its head office located in Springbok. The three main towns in Karoo Hoogland are Williston, Fraserburg and Sutherland which are respectively 499 km, 592 km and 539 km from Springbok. Karoo Hoogland Municipality is devided into 4 Wards and there is an estimate of 2204 households in the area serviced by the Municipality.

Population Distribution in Karoo Hoogland Municipality Area

Fraserburg: 23% of total population
Non Urban areas (Rural): 31% of total population
Sutherland: 19% of total population
Williston: 27% of total population

It is evident that the most significant portion of Karoo Hoogland’s urban population resides in Williston (27%). The Karoo Hoogland LM also has a large rural population, with 31% of its population residing in the non-urban (NU) regions within the Municipality which covers approximately 99% of the LMs geographical area.

The age distribution of a population is important because the largest age group inevitably indicates its own demands on the market. A large number of residents are still dependant on government grants and is the unemployment rate currently 23.1%. This tendanst in it self have a negative influence on the payment of services and a total of 1035 households are subsidice by the service subsidized scheme.

The Karoo Hoogland population can be regarded as having a high dependency ratio. With 10.6% of the population over the age of 65 and 24.5% are under 15 years. The latter youth group will be demanding education, housing and jobs in the near future. The Karoo Hoogland gender distribution is 47, 8% males and 52, 2% females.

The average population growth rates between 2001 and 2010 are as follows:

• Northern Cape Province (0.3%)
• Namakwa District Municipality (-0.1%)
• Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality (-1.7%)

Wards within the Municipal Boundaries:

• Ward 1 – Williston
• Ward 2 – Fraserburg
• Ward 3 – Rural surroundings
• Ward 4 – Sutherland