Theewaterskloof Municipality (; ) is a local municipality located within the Overberg District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2007, the population was 108,790. Its municipality code is WC031. The enormous Theewaterskloof Dam, which provides water for Cape Town and the surrounding areas, is located in this municipality.
Geography
The municipality covers an area of in the western interior of the Overberg region. It occupies the area between the Riviersonderend Mountains to the north and the Kogelberg and Kleinrivier Mountains to the south; to the west it stretches as far as the Hottentots-Holland mountains.
The western area of the municipality is the Elgin Valley, drained by the Palmiet River. The northern part is the valley of the Sonderend River including the Theewaterskloof Dam. The southeastern part is in the Overberg plain, drained by the Bot and Klein Rivers.
According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 108,790 people in 28,884 households. Of this population, 62.9% describe themselves as "Coloured", 26.4% as "Black African", and 9.4% as "White". The first language of 73.6% of the population is Afrikaans, while 16.9% speak Xhosa, 3.9% speak English and 3.6% speak Sotho.
The largest town in the municipality is Grabouw in the Elgin Valley, which as of 2011 has a population of 30,337. However, the municipal headquarters are situated in Caledon (pop. 13,020) on the plain. Between Grabouw and Caledon is Botrivier (pop. 5,505) at the base of the Houwhoek Pass. Villiersdorp (pop. 10,004) is located in the northern part of the municipality close to the Theewaterskloof Dam. Downstream from the dam along the Sonderend River are the villages of Genadendal (pop. 5,663), Greyton (pop. 2,780) and Riviersonderend (pop. 5,245). The smallest town in the district is Tesselaarsdal, which is approximately 20km south-east of Caledon.
History
At the end of the apartheid era, in the area that was to become Theewaterskloof, there were municipal councils for the towns of Grabouw, Caledon, Villiersdorp, Greyton, and Riviersonderend, and a local council for the village of Botrivier. These councils were elected by the white residents. The coloured residents of Pineview (Grabouw), Bergsig (Caledon), Myddleton, Heuwelkruin (Greyton), and Riviersonderend were governed by management committees subordinate to the white councils. The former mission station of Genadendal was governed by a management board, and the remaining rural areas fell under the Overberg Regional Services Council.
While the negotiations to end apartheid were taking place a process was established for local authorities to negotiate voluntary mergers. Such mergers took place in two towns in the Theewaterskloof region: in August 1993 the Municipality of Riviersonderend merged with the Riviersonderend Management Committee to form the Municipality for the Area of Riviersonderend, and in January 1994 the Municipality of Caledon merged with the Bergsig Management Committee to form the Municipality for the Area of Caledon.