| Intsika Yethu | |
| Settlement Type: | Local municipality |
| Seal Size: | 150x100px |
| Map Alt: | Location in the Eastern Cape |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Eastern Cape |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Chris Hani |
| Seat: | Cofimvaba |
| Parts Type: | Wards |
| Parts: | 21 |
| Government Footnotes: | [1] |
| Government Type: | Municipal council |
| Leader Party: | ANC |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Khanyiswa Mdleleni |
| Leader Title1: | Speaker |
| Leader Name1: | Myolisi Toni (ANC) |
| Leader Title2: | Chief Whip |
| Leader Name2: | Yanga Zicina (ANC) |
| Area Total Km2: | 2711 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 145372 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 99.4% |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 0.2% |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 0.1% |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 0.1% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages |
| Demographics2 Footnotes: | [3] |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 95.9% |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 1.5% |
| Demographics2 Info3: | % |
| Demographics2 Info4: | % |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 2.6% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Municipal code |
| Blank Info Sec1: | EC135 |
Intsika Yethu Municipality (xh|uMasipala wase Intsika Yethu) is a local municipality within the Chris Hani District Municipality, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The municipality is one of the six local municipality in this district.[4] Xhosa: Intsika Yethu is an isiXhosa word meaning "our pillars".[5]
The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[6]
| Place | Code | Area (km2) | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22201 | 50.39 | 2,901 | ||
| 22202 | 373.66 | 21,761 | ||
| 22203 | 153.62 | 6,614 | ||
| Cofimvaba Part 1 | 22204 | 23.22 | 4,654 | |
| Cofimvaba Part 2 | 22225 | 46.48 | 3,612 | |
| 22205 | 123.15 | 2,650 | ||
| 22206 | 171.21 | 7,629 | ||
| 22207 | 18.42 | 1,054 | ||
| 22208 | 45.97 | 4,041 | ||
| 22209 | 90.10 | 4,824 | ||
| 22210 | 598.02 | 27,005 | ||
| 22211 | 80.35 | 5,513 | ||
| 22212 | 9.29 | 30 | ||
| 22213 | 91.59 | 6,216 | ||
| 22214 | 187.20 | 11,575 | ||
| 22215 | 12.46 | 217 | ||
| 22216 | 28.79 | 597 | ||
| 22217 | 273.57 | 12,211 | ||
| 22218 | 177.97 | 9,755 | ||
| 22219 | 73.11 | 4,322 | ||
| 22220 | 267.03 | 12,069 | ||
| 22221 | 478.40 | 31,056 | ||
| 22222 | 135.96 | 7,869 | ||
| Tsomo Part 1 | 22223 | 74.21 | 3,666 | |
| Tsomo Part 2 | 22226 | 6.80 | 979 | |
| 22224 | 27.93 | 1,441 |
In 2016, the population was 146,341[7] with an estimated population growth of 0.09% per year. This rural community is 99% Black with Xhosa as the most widely spoken language.
Villages within the district have a sense of community and often work collectively, forming communal networks to address their impoverished circumstances.[8] Women generally head households and support their families through informal employment. They are primarily responsible for caring for the elderly and younger members of the family, providing food and gathering firewood.
The late political activist and former leader of the South African Communist Party, Chris Hani, was born in Intsika Yethu in the town of Sabalele. He grew up in a home with five siblings, his mother Nomayise and father Gilbert. The province commemorates the late Chris Hani with a statue, a municipality named after him and the annual Chris Hani Freedom Marathon, which is held on the route that Hani walked to school.[9]
This predominantly rural area is characterised by poverty and unemployment, subsistence farming, food insecurity and diseases like HIV/AIDS. Natural disasters such as drought, erosion, and floods and a lack of adequate emergency plans make pre-existing shortages worse.
Intsika Yethu is part of the greater Chris Hani District Municipality that was reported as one of three HIV/AIDS hotspots in the Eastern Cape. This, while the prevalence of new infections and the syndrome have decreased in other districts in the province.[10]
The area remains underserviced with only 2.4% of the 35 851 households having piped water within their homes in 2016. In 2016, President Jacob Zuma launched the Ncora Bulk Water Project, a government initiative that committed to delivering water to areas in the Chris Hani District Municipality and other areas in the country. This project also aimed to broadened the areas’ economic activities.[11] Its main economic sectors include community services, trade and agriculture.
As part of Eskom’s mission to achieve widespread access to electricity for South Africans by 2020, 94 000 homes were connected over three years in the Eastern Cape.[12] In 2016, 86.6% of the homes in Intsika Yethu had electricity.
Many of the households rely on social grants as their sole source of income.[13] The working-age population is largely absent in this region with poorly developed infrastructure and limited employment opportunities. Youth often migrate to the cities in search of work in labour-intensive industries like mining.
See main article: Intsika Yethu Local Municipality elections. The municipal council consists of forty-two members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-one councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-one wards, while the remaining twenty-one 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 1 November 2021 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of thirty-five seats on the council.[14] [15]
The following table shows the results of the election.
| Intsika Yethu local election, 1 November 2021 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | Seats | ||||||
| Ward | List | Total | % | Ward | List | Total | ||
| 27,300 | 28,280 | 55,580 | 78.4% | 21 | 14 | 35 | ||
| 2,995 | 3,249 | 6,244 | 8.8% | 0 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 3,590 | – | 3,590 | 5.1% | 0 | – | 0 | ||
| 783 | 1,192 | 1,975 | 2.8% | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 680 | 675 | 1,355 | 1.9% | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 369 | 767 | 1,136 | 1.6% | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 321 | 489 | 810 | 1.1% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 192 | 194 | 0.3% | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 36,040 | 34,844 | 70,884 | 21 | 21 | 42 | ||
| Valid votes | 36,040 | 34,844 | 70,884 | 97.2% | ||||
| Spoilt votes | 809 | 1,256 | 2,065 | 2.8% | ||||
| Total votes cast | 36,849 | 36,100 | 72,949 | |||||
| Voter turnout | 36,925 | |||||||
| Registered voters | 75,098 | |||||||
| Turnout percentage | 49.2% | |||||||