established for local authorities to negotiate voluntary mergers. Some towns in the Bergrivier took part in this process, which resulted in the municipalities merging with their respective management committees to form new non-racial municipalities: Piketberg and Aurora in August 1992, and Eendekuil in January 1993. After the national elections of 1994 a process of local government transformation began, in which negotiations were held between the existing local authorities, political parties, and local community organisations. As a result of these negotiations, the existing local authorities were dissolved and transitional local councils (TLCs) were created for each town and village. Porterville TLC replaced Porterville Municipality and Porterville Management Committee in October 1994. Piketberg TLC replaced Piketberg and Eendekuil Municipalities in December 1994. Velddrif TLC replaced Velddrif Municipality, Velddrif Management Committee and Dwarskersbos Local Council in October 1994. Redelinghuys TLC replaced Redelinghuys Municipality and Redelinghuys Management Committee in October 1994. Aurora Municipality was declared to be a TLC in October 1995. The transitional councils were initially made up of members nominated by the various parties to the negotiations, until May 1996 when elections were held. At these elections the West Coast District Council was established, replacing the West Coast Regional Services Council. Transitional representative councils (TRCs) were also elected to represent rural areas outside the TLCs on the District Council; the area that was to become Bergrivier Municipality included most of the Piketberg TRC. At the local elections of December 2000 the TLCs and TRCs were dissolved and the Bergrivier Municipality was established as a single local authority incorporating both rural and urban areas. In 2006 the boundary of the municipality was extended slightly to take over a strip of land on the left bank of the Berg River adjacent to Velddrif, which had previously belonged to the Saldanha Bay Municipality. Politics The municipal council consists of thirteen members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Seven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in seven wards, while the remaining six 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 Democratic Alliance (DA) obtained a majority of eight seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the 2021 election. References External links Official website Bergrivier Local Municipality on the Western Cape Government website Local municipalities of the West Coast District Municipality