uMhlathuze Local Municipality is an administrative area in the King Cetshwayo District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The municipality is named after the Mhlatuze River.[6]
uMhlathuze | |
|---|---|
 Seal | |
.svg) Location in KwaZulu-Natal | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | KwaZulu-Natal |
| District | King Cetshwayo |
| Seat | Richards Bay |
| Wards | 30 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal council |
| • Mayor | Xolani Ngwezi[1] (IFP) |
| • Deputy Mayor | Christo Botha[2] (DA) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 793 km2 (306 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[4] | |
| • Total | 412,075 |
| • Density | 520/km2 (1,300/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2022) | |
| • Black African | 87.7% |
| • Coloured | 0.9% |
| • Indian/Asian | 3.7% |
| • White | 7.5% |
| First languages (2022) | |
| • Zulu | 61.3% |
| • English | 19.7% |
| • Afrikaans | 15.1% |
| • Southern Ndebele | 1.2% |
| • Other | 2.7% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Municipal code | KZN282 |
The municipality was enlarged at the time of the South African municipal election, 2016 when part of the disbanded Ntambanana Local Municipality was merged into it.[7]
Main places
editThe 2024 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[8]
| Place | Code | Area (km2) | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bejani | 53801 | 12.82 | 4,654 |
| Dube | 53802 | 53.95 | 52,239 |
| Empangeni | 53803 | 14.00 | 13,306 |
| Esikhawini | 53804 | 5.90 | 32,437 |
| Khoza | 53805 | 14.32 | 24,172 |
| Kwambonambi Forest Reserve | 53806 | 56.58 | 117 |
| Mkhwanazi | 53807 | 66.29 | 22,758 |
| Nkwanazi | 53808 | 31.86 | 25,780 |
| Nseleni | 53809 | 1.30 | 8,873 |
| Richards Bay Part 1 | 53810 | 75.80 | 30,605 |
| Richards Bay Part 2 | 53811 | 0.42 | 382 |
| Richards Bay Part 3 | 53812 | 21.19 | 13,865 |
| Umlalazi Nature Reserve | 53814 | 27.89 | 347 |
| Vulindlela | 53815 | 2.44 | 4,044 |
| Zungu/Madlebe | 53816 | 71.06 | 48,977 |
| Remainder of the municipality | 53813 | 339.73 | 6,630 |
Politics
editThe municipal council consists of sixty-seven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirty-four councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirty-four wards, while the remaining thirty-three are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.
In the 2021 South African municipal elections the African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority, winning a plurality of twenty-seven seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.[9]
| Party | Ward | List | Total seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| African National Congress | 33,827 | 40.33 | 20 | 32,396 | 38.67 | 7 | 27 | |
| Inkatha Freedom Party | 28,714 | 34.23 | 10 | 29,303 | 34.98 | 13 | 23 | |
| Democratic Alliance | 9,889 | 11.79 | 4 | 9,854 | 11.76 | 4 | 8 | |
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 7,627 | 9.09 | 0 | 7,768 | 9.27 | 6 | 6 | |
| National Freedom Party | 771 | 0.92 | 0 | 760 | 0.91 | 1 | 1 | |
| African Christian Democratic Party | 713 | 0.85 | 0 | 729 | 0.87 | 1 | 1 | |
| Freedom Front Plus | 541 | 0.64 | 0 | 608 | 0.73 | 1 | 1 | |
| African Independent Congress | 27 | 0.03 | 0 | 876 | 1.05 | 0 | 0 | |
| Abantu Batho Congress | 302 | 0.36 | 0 | 289 | 0.34 | 0 | 0 | |
| African People's Movement | 300 | 0.36 | 0 | 286 | 0.34 | 0 | 0 | |
| Justice and Employment Party | 240 | 0.29 | 0 | 316 | 0.38 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independent candidates | 446 | 0.53 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| South Africa Vuka Movement | 197 | 0.23 | 0 | 166 | 0.20 | 0 | 0 | |
| United Christian Democratic Party | 118 | 0.14 | 0 | 79 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | |
| Black First Land First | 74 | 0.09 | 0 | 101 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 | |
| African Transformation Movement | 45 | 0.05 | 0 | 123 | 0.15 | 0 | 0 | |
| United Independent Movement | 11 | 0.01 | 0 | 91 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | |
| Congregational Christian Unity | 40 | 0.05 | 0 | 29 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 83,882 | 100.00 | 34 | 83,774 | 100.00 | 33 | 67 | |
| Valid votes | 83,882 | 98.71 | 83,774 | 98.64 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,092 | 1.29 | 1,159 | 1.36 | ||||
| Total votes | 84,974 | 100.00 | 84,933 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 192,916 | 44.05 | 192,916 | 44.03 | ||||
By-elections
editThe following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period from the election in November 2021.
| Date | Ward | Party of the previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 September 2022[10] | 12 | African National Congress | Inkatha Freedom Party | ||
The by-election took place after the African National Congress (ANC) representative, facing community pressure, resigned. With the victory, the Inkatha Freedom Party solidified its coalition hold on council.[11]
References
edit- ^ "City of uMhlathuze elects new mayor". Zululand Observer. 2021-12-10. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
- ^ "All rise for the new uMhlathuze deputy mayor". Zululand Observer. 2023-08-14. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
- ^ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
- ^ a b "uMhlathuze (Local Municipality, South Africa)". Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location. 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
- ^ South African Languages - Place names
- ^ "Ntambanana municipality to dissolve in September". Zululand Observer. 22 April 2016.
- ^ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
- ^ "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — uMhlathuze". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Municipal By-elections results - Electoral Commission of South Africa". results.elections.org.za. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
- ^ Sussman, Wayne (2022-09-15). "SEPTEMBER BY-ELECTIONS: DA triumphs in Prince Albert nail-biter while IFP bucks trend to shock ANC in KZN". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2022-09-15.