uMuziwabantu Local Municipality

uMuziwabantu Municipality (Zulu: UMasipala woMuziwabantu) is a local municipality within the Ugu District Municipality, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. uMuziwabantu is an isiZulu word meaning "the people's home", or "a home with wide open doors where everyone is welcome".[3] The main source of income for the area is derived from the municipality's extensive wattle, gum, pine and poplar plantations, and associated industries, including saw mills and furniture-making factories.[4]

uMuziwabantu
Official seal of uMuziwabantu
Location in KwaZulu-Natal
Location in KwaZulu-Natal
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceKwaZulu-Natal
DistrictUgu
SeatHarding
Wards10
Government
 • TypeMunicipal council
 • MayorMzwandile Nyathi
Area
 • Total1,089 km2 (420 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total96,556
 • Density89/km2 (230/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African97.9%
 • Coloured1.1%
 • Indian/Asian0.4%
 • White0.5%
First languages (2011)
 • Zulu88.2%
 • Xhosa4.9%
 • English2.9%
 • Southern Ndebele1.3%
 • Other2.7%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeKZN214

Main places

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The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[5]

Place Code Area (km2) Population
Dlamini 50401 100.82 7,802
Duma 50402 23.22 2,303
Harding 50403 32.63 5,236
Machi 50404 19.47 2,932
Machi/Zibonda 50405 206.63 47,252
Mbotho 50406 61.6 6,634
Nhlangano 50407 89.85 14,395
Nyuswa 50408 2 66
Quebela 50409 0.77 1,110
Shwawu 50410 4.74 1,069
Weza 50412 1.03 579
Remainder of the municipality 50411 545.76 2,971

Politics

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The municipal council consists of twenty one members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Eleven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in eleven wards, while the remaining eleven 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) won a minority of 10 seats on the council as opposed to eleven seats won by the opposing parties. The following table shows the results of the election.[6]

PartyWardListTotal
seats
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
African National Congress11,33047.57911,23446.98110
Inkatha Freedom Party5,68023.8515,78924.2145
Economic Freedom Fighters1,9588.2202,0168.4322
Al Jama-ah1,6466.9111,6176.7612
Abantu Batho Congress1,1945.0101,1704.8911
Democratic Alliance8133.4107733.2311
African Independent Congress3481.4604922.0600
African Transformation Movement3311.3903471.4500
National Freedom Party1950.8203701.5500
Independent candidates2150.9000
People's Freedom Party1080.4501060.4400
Total23,818100.001123,914100.001021
Valid votes23,81897.0323,91496.96
Invalid/blank votes7292.977503.04
Total votes24,547100.0024,664100.00
Registered voters/turnout45,07854.4545,07854.71

By-elections from November 2021

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The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period since the election in November 2021.[7]

Date Ward Party of the previous councillor Party of the newly elected councillor
13 October 2022 11 Al Jama-ah Inkatha Freedom Party

Most of ward 11 consists of the town of Harding, which was severely affected by the unrest in July 2021. A new ward, it was won by Sheikh Mondli Ncane from Al Jama-ah (AJ). An ANC coalition saw Ncane elected deputy-mayor. In June 2022, Ncane was ousted as deputy mayor, and replaced by a candidate from ANC coalition partner Abantu Batho Congress (ABC). Ncane quit his party, standing as a candidate for the Sizwe Ummah Nation (SUN) in the by-election. The seat was won by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), which increased its share from 6% to 53%. Ncane got 31%, while the candidate from his previous party, AJ, got 1%.[8]

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 c "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. ^ South African Languages - Place names
  4. ^ KwaZulu-Natal Top Business - uMuziwabantu Municipality
  5. ^ Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
  6. ^ "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — uMuziwabantu". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  7. ^ "Municipal By-elections results". Electoral Commission of South Africa. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  8. ^ Sussman, Wayne (2022-10-13). "OCTOBER BY-ELECTIONS: DA doctor beats mayor Farmer in Cederberg, while IFP flips the script in southern KwaZulu-Natal". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
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30°45′S 30°26′E / 30.750°S 30.433°E / -30.750; 30.433