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.

The transitional councils were initially made up of members nominated by the various parties to the negotiations, until May 1996 when elections were held.

The African National Congress (ANC) formed a minority coalition with the Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (ICOSA) and the Oudtshoorn Gemeenskap Inisiatief (OGI).

[7] The arms were : Argent, two bars dancetty Sable (i.e. a silver shield with two black zig-zag stripes across it), with two golden gryphons as supporters.

[9] The changes to the design were the addition of a red chief bearing a golden mural crown to the shield; the addition of a crest consisting of a pair of black wings inside a golden ring; and each supporter was given an ostrich feather to hold.

On 15 December 2021, employees of the municipality allegedly paid R3 million to an entity masquerading as a legitimate contractor.