uPhongolo Local Municipality elections

The uPhongolo Local Municipality council consists of twenty-nine members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Fifteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in fifteen wards, while the remaining fourteen 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 Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) won a majority of fifteen seats.

Results

The following table shows the composition of the council after past elections.

Event	ANC	DA	EFF	IFP	NFP	Other	Total
2000 election	5	1	-	16	-	0	22
2006 election	7	1	-	14	-	0	22
2011 election	11	1	-	7	8	0	27
2016 election	15	2	1	10	-	1	29
2021 election	10	1	1	15	2	0	29

The following table shows the results of the 2000 election.^[1]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	13,184	68.29	11	13,943	72.00	5	16
	African National Congress	3,906	20.23	0	4,029	20.81	5	5
	Democratic Alliance	1,251	6.48	0	1,392	7.19	1	1
	Independent candidates	966	5.00	0				0
Total		19,307	100.00	11	19,364	100.00	11	22

Valid votes		19,307	97.48		19,364	97.10
Invalid/blank votes		500	2.52		578	2.90
Total votes		19,807	100.00		19,942	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		37,002	53.53		37,002	53.89

The following table shows the results of the 2006 election.^[2]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	15,355	62.26	8	15,189	61.48	6	14
	African National Congress	7,760	31.47	3	8,120	32.87	4	7
	Democratic Alliance	914	3.71	0	878	3.55	1	1
	Independent Democrats	303	1.23	0	330	1.34	0	0
	Independent candidates	265	1.07	0				0
	National Democratic Convention	64	0.26	0	188	0.76	0	0
Total		24,661	100.00	11	24,705	100.00	11	22

Valid votes		24,661	98.16		24,705	98.24
Invalid/blank votes		461	1.84		443	1.76
Total votes		25,122	100.00		25,148	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		45,135	55.66		45,135	55.72

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.^[3]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	African National Congress	12,447	39.67	7	12,734	40.46	4	11
	National Freedom Party	9,215	29.37	4	9,129	29.00	4	8
	Inkatha Freedom Party	8,066	25.71	3	8,069	25.64	4	7
	Democratic Alliance	1,463	4.66	0	1,394	4.43	1	1
	African Christian Democratic Party	132	0.42	0	149	0.47	0	0
	Independent candidates	54	0.17	0				0
Total		31,377	100.00	14	31,475	100.00	13	27

Valid votes		31,377	98.35		31,475	98.64
Invalid/blank votes		528	1.65		434	1.36
Total votes		31,905	100.00		31,909	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		51,808	61.58		51,808	61.59

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.^[4]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	African National Congress	18,608	53.74	12	19,035	55.05	3	15
	Inkatha Freedom Party	12,123	35.01	2	12,429	35.95	8	10
	Democratic Alliance	2,070	5.98	0	2,140	6.19	2	2
	Economic Freedom Fighters	665	1.92	0	796	2.30	1	1
	Independent candidates	977	2.82	1				1
	African Christian Democratic Party	183	0.53	0	175	0.51	0	0
Total		34,626	100.00	15	34,575	100.00	14	29

Valid votes		34,626	98.11		34,575	98.11
Invalid/blank votes		668	1.89		665	1.89
Total votes		35,294	100.00		35,240	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		59,884	58.94		59,884	58.85

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.^[5]


Party		Ward			List			Total seats
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Total seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	16,592	48.39	13	17,896	51.65	2	15
	African National Congress	11,499	33.54	2	11,872	34.27	8	10
	National Freedom Party	1,428	4.16	0	1,631	4.71	2	2
	Democratic Alliance	1,348	3.93	0	1,358	3.92	1	1
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,138	3.32	0	1,221	3.52	1	1
	Independent candidates	1,644	4.79	0				0
	African Christian Democratic Party	164	0.48	0	193	0.56	0	0
	National People's Front	134	0.39	0	148	0.43	0	0
	Pongola People's Party	100	0.29	0	138	0.40	0	0
	African People's Convention	79	0.23	0	73	0.21	0	0
	African Mantungwa Community	50	0.15	0	34	0.10	0	0
	Abantu Batho Congress	29	0.08	0	37	0.11	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	20	0.06	0	31	0.09	0	0
	African People's Movement	30	0.09	0	15	0.04	0	0
	United Christian Democratic Party	33	0.10	0				0
Total		34,288	100.00	15	34,647	100.00	14	29

Valid votes		34,288	98.53		34,647	98.62
Invalid/blank votes		513	1.47		484	1.38
Total votes		34,801	100.00		35,131	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		64,045	54.34		64,045	54.85

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period from November 2021.

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
14 February 2024^[6]	2		Inkatha Freedom Party		Inkatha Freedom Party
19 June 2024^[7]	15		Inkatha Freedom Party		Inkatha Freedom Party

^ "Election Result Table for LGE2000 — uPhongolo". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
^ "Election Result Table for LGE2006 — uPhongolo". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
^ "Election Result Table for LGE2011 — uPhongolo". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
^ "Election Result Table for LGE2016 — uPhongolo". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
^ "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — uPhongolo". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
^ Sussman, Wayne (15 February 2024). "MK party snatches votes from ANC in second Zululand scare". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
^ Sussman, Wayne (20 June 2024). "IFP builds on strong KZN poll showing with more solid wins". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 20 June 2024.