Oudtshoorn Municipality () is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. , the population was 95,933. Geography The municipality covers an area of in the Little Karoo, stretching from the Swartberg mountains in the north to the Outeniqua Mountains in the south, and from the Gamkaberg in the west to the Kammanassie Mountains in the east. It abuts on the Prince Albert Municipality to the north, the George Municipality to the east, the Mossel Bay Municipality to the south, the Hessequa Municipality to the southwest and the Kannaland Municipality to the west. According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 95,933 people in 21,910 households. Of this population, 77.3% describe themselves as "Coloured", 12.5% as "White", and 9.1% as "Black African". The first language of 91.0% of the population is Afrikaans, while 4.8% speak Xhosa and 2.3% speak English. Most of the residents of the municipality live in the town of Oudtshoorn, which as of 2011 has a population of 61,507. East of Oudtshoorn are the towns of Dysselsdorp (pop. 12,544) and De Rust (pop. 3,566). There are small agricultural villages at Armoed (pop. 472) and De Hoop (pop. 151). History At the end of the apartheid era, the area that is today the Oudtshoorn Municipality formed part of the Klein Karoo Regional Services Council (RSC). The towns of Oudtshoorn and De Rust were governed by municipal councils elected by their white residents. The coloured residents of Bridgton (Oudtshoorn) and Blomnek (De Rust) were governed by management committees subordinate to the white councils. Dysselsdorp was also governed by a management committee. Bongolethu was governed by a town council established under the Black Local Authorities Act, 1982. 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. In December 1994 the De Rust/Blomnek TLC replaced the Municipality of De Rust and Blomnek Management Committee. In January 1995 the Oudtshoorn TLC replaced the Municipality of Oudtshoorn, Bridgton Management Committee and Bongolethu Town Council. In the same month the Dysselsdorp TLC replaced the Dysselsdorp Management Committee. The transitional councils were initially made up of members nominated by the various parties to the negotiations,