Newcastle Local Municipality

Newcastle Municipality (Zulu: UMasipala wase Newcastle) is a local municipality within the Amajuba District Municipality, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

Newcastle
Official seal of Newcastle
Location in KwaZulu-Natal
Location in KwaZulu-Natal
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceKwaZulu-Natal
DistrictAmajuba
SeatNewcastle
Wards34
Government
 • TypeMunicipal council
Area
 • Total1,855 km2 (716 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total363,236
 • Density200/km2 (510/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African91.9%
 • Coloured0.8%
 • Indian/Asian3.2%
 • White3.9%
First languages (2011)
 • Zulu85.6%
 • English6.4%
 • Afrikaans3.5%
 • Other4.5%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeKZN252

Main places

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The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[4]

Place Code Area (km2) Population
Charlestown 52401 18.48 3,204
Hlubi 52402 108.11 73,931
Madadeni 52403 25.15 116,798
Newcastle 52404 199.06 44,123
Ngagane 52405 4.90 1,206
Osizweni 52406 15.35 80,265
Remainder of the municipality 52408 1,483.87 13,449

Politics

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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 election of 1 November 2021 the African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority, obtaining a plurality of twenty-two seats. A coalition was formed between the IFP, Team Sugar, DA, ActionSA and the FF+ to keep the ANC out. The IFP as the largest party in the coalition took the position of Mayor (Xolani Dube) and Speaker of council (Thengi Zulu), while Team Sugar took the deputy mayor position (Musa Thwala), ActionSA the Chief whip position (Faizel Cassim) and the DA were given MPAC (Municipal Public Accounts Committee). The following table shows the results of the election.[5]

PartyWardListTotal
seats
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
African National Congress25,01930.842125,65831.76122
Inkatha Freedom Party19,51824.06621,71226.881218
Economic Freedom Fighters9,74612.0109,77512.1088
Team Sugar South Africa8,16710.0728,54110.5757
Democratic Alliance6,1467.5846,1097.5615
ActionSA2,7723.4212,8983.5923
Independent candidates3,8554.7500
Freedom Front Plus9901.2209781.2111
National Freedom Party8461.0409661.2011
Patriotic Alliance6140.7605600.6911
African Transformation Movement4670.5804990.6211
16 other parties2,9773.6703,0843.8200
Total81,117100.003480,780100.003367
Valid votes81,11797.9080,78097.89
Invalid/blank votes1,7402.101,7412.11
Total votes82,857100.0082,521100.00
Registered voters/turnout181,56345.64181,56345.45

After a series of by-elections, the composition of the municipal council as of 18 July 2024 is as follows: IFP 23, ANC 17, EFF 8, Team Sugar 6, DA 6, Action SA 3, FF+ 1, NFP 1, PA 1, ATM 1.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  4. ^ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
  5. ^ "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Newcastle". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  6. ^ Sussman, Wayne. "IFP deals bitter setback for Team Sugar, MK in KZN, ANC cleans up in Eastern Cape, North West wards". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
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27°44′39″S 29°56′14″E / 27.74417°S 29.93722°E / -27.74417; 29.93722