# UMhlathuze Local Municipality

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.
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.

## Main places

The 2024 census divided the municipality into the following main places:
| Place | Code | Area (km$^2$) | 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

The 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.
| Party | Party | Ward | Ward | Ward | List | List | List | Total seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Total 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 | Total | 83,882 | 100.00 | 34 | 83,774 | 100.00 | 33 | 67 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 83,882 | 98.71 | | 83,774 | 98.64 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 1,092 | 1.29 | | 1,159 | 1.36 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 84,974 | 100.00 | | 84,933 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 192,916 | 44.05 | | 192,916 | 44.03 | | |

### By-elections

The 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 previous councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor | Party of the newly elected councillor |
| 14 September 2022 | 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.