Central Karoo District Municipality

The Central Karoo District is made up of three local municipalities – Beaufort West, Prince Albert and Laingsburg and Murraysburg DMA. While the Central Karoo is geographically the largest district in the Western Cape at 38 853 square kilometres, it is home to only 62 300 people, making it the least populated in the province with a population density of 1.6 people per square kilometre. Seventy-five percent of the population lives in urban areas.

The Central Karoo, bordered by the Swartland mountains near Prince Albert and the Nieuveld mountains near Beaufort West, is part of the Great Karoo, a unique semi-desert arid zone rich in fossils and home to the largest variety of succulents in the world. Agricultural activities other than sheep farming can only be sustained in the semi-arid area south of the district.

Thirty percent of the employed population in the Central Karoo works in the agricultural sector; 18% in community, social and personal services; and 15% in wholesale and retail trade. In terms of their contribution to GGP, the largest economic sector is transport and communication (21%), followed by finance and business services (18%), wholesale and retail trade, catering and accommodation (17%), agriculture (11%) and manufacturing (9%).

Uranium was discovered in the Central Karoo in the 1970s but a drop in the price of the mineral led to a halt in exploration. With prices currently buoyant as a result of increased demand for alternative energy and estimates of reserves reaching millions of tons, uranium mining could change the economic face of the region.

The municipality is already home to the Karoo National Park and there is room for growth in more tourism projects, with the Karoo being a archaeology hotspot as well as a uniquely beautiful landscape.

Contact details:

Mayor: Mr T Prince
Municipal Manager: Mr Stefanus Jooste

Physical address: 63 Donkin Street, Beaufort West 6970
Postal address: Private Bag X560, Beaufort West 6970

Tel: (+27 23) 449 1000
Fax: (+27 23) 415 1253
Email: stefanus@skdm.co.za
Website: www.centralkaroo.co.za 

Key facts and figures:

Main infrastructure: N1, R63, Rail network running south west to the north east

Local municipalities encompassed:

• Beaufort West Municipality
  Tel: (+27 23) 414 8020
  Fax: (+27 23) 415 1373
  Website: www.beaufortwestmun.co.za
• Lainsburg Municipality
  Tel: (+27 23) 551 1019
  Fax: (+27 23) 551 1019
• Prince Albert Municipality
  Tel: (+27 23) 541 1320
  Fax: (+27 23) 541 1321