Sundays River Valley Municipality (; ) is a local municipality within

Sarah Baartman District Municipality The Sarah Baartman District Municipality (; ), formerly the Cacadu District Municipality, is situated in the western part of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, covering an area of 58,242 square kilometres. The area of the district municip ...

, in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It has a total population of nearly 70,000 people. The municipality is one of the key production areas for

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

in South Africa. It also encompasses the

Addo Elephant National Park Addo Elephant National Park (AENP) is a diverse wildlife conservation park situated close to Gqeberha in South Africa and is one of the country's 20 national parks. It currently ranks third in size after Kruger National Park and the Kgalagadi T ...

and other significant areas of nature conservation.

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:

Politics

The municipal council consists of sixteen members elected by

mixed-member proportional representation Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a type of representation provided by some mixed electoral system, mixed electoral systems which combine local Winner-take-all system, winner-take-all elections with a Compensation (el ...

. Eight councillors are elected by

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

in eight wards, while the remaining eight are chosen from

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

s so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. In the election of 1 November 2021 the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC) won a majority of ten 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 (160 mi) long

Sundays River The !Khukaǁgamma or Sundays River () is a river in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is said to be the fastest flowing river in the country. The Inqua Khoi people, who historically were the wealthiest group in Southern Africa, orig ...

, 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 The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

Algoa Bay Algoa Bay is a maritime bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is located on the east coast, east of the Cape of Good Hope. Algoa Bay is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to deep. The harbour ...

near

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

. To the north of Kirkwood lies the Rietberg mountain with the Uyepoort (Uye gateway) that provides passage to the Zuurberg mountains and the Greater

. 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."History and Culture."
Sundays River Valley Municipality website. Retrieved on 14 October 2009. The municipality comprises three regions with distinct characteristics:Integrated Development Plan 2009/2010.
Sundays River Valley Municipality. Retrieved on 14 October 2009. * The coastal zone, between the mouth of the Sundays River and Alexandria, is predominantly characterised by reserves and conservation areas, which form part of the Greater Addo Park. No settlement occurs in the coastal zone; it is largely undeveloped and contains the Woody Cape Nature Reserve, the Alexandria Coastal Reserve and the Alexandria State Forest. The area is unique for its mobile

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s and unspoiled wilderness. * The Sundays River Valley is characterized by wide, fertile

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

s, high-intensity agricultural activities (in particular the production of citrus fruits), and a well-developed irrigation system. In addition to citrus cultivation, various tourist attractions, bed and breakfast facilities, packing sheds and game-related tourist facilities are present throughout the valley. The town of Kirkwood is the main focal point of the Valley, with Addo and Sunland as secondary nodes. * The hinterlands, north and east of the Sundays River Valley, are characterised by high-lying mountainous areas with steep valleys and drainage features. This region includes the

and Zuurberg Conservation areas, as well as the town of Paterson with the

Shamwari Game Reserve Shamwari Game Reserve is located 75 km outside Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, South Africa. An essential focus is the management, development and rehabilitation of an ecosystem that has been returned to a more natural condition after many years ...

Demographics

The municipality's population (as of 2005) 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 (US $110) 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 Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

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.

References

External links

Official website
{{Municipalities of the Eastern Cape Sundays River Local municipalities of the Sarah Baartman District Municipality