Maphumulo Local Municipality

Maphumulo Local Municipality is an administrative area in the iLembe District of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Maphumulo is an isiZulu name meaning "place of rest".^[4]

Maphumulo
Local municipality
Seal
Location in KwaZulu-Natal
Country	South Africa
Province	KwaZulu-Natal
District	iLembe
Seat	Maphumulo
Wards	11
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Zibuyisile Fortunate Khuzwayo-Dlamini (ANC)
Area
• Total	896 km2 (346 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	96,724
• Density	110/km2 (280/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	99.7%
• Coloured	0.1%
• Indian/Asian	0.1%
• White	0.1%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Zulu	95.4%
• Southern Ndebele	1.4%
• English	1.2%
• Other	2%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	KZN294

The municipality is predominantly rural, comprising mostly tribal land, which is administered by the Ingonyama Trust on behalf of local communities.^[5] Sugar-cane cultivation is the predominant economic activity and land use in the municipality. Subsistence agricultural activities in the form of small cropping areas attached to traditional family units dominate land usage.^[5]

The only major town in the municipality is Maphumulo.^[6]

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:^[7]

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population
Amabhedu	54601	27.75	6,159
Cele	54602	21.80	1,201
Embo	54603	38.96	4,704
Hlongwa	54604	33.88	7,044
Mabomvini	54605	118.39	13,850
Mkhonto	54606	255.76	35,208
Mpungose	54607	9.62	949
Ngcolosi	54608	177.93	19,370
Nodunga	54609	58.95	3,959
Qadi	54610	30.28	5,710
Qwabe/Waterfall	54611	80.50	16,906
Zubane	54612	41.25	5,594

Politics

Main article: Maphumulo Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of twenty-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twelve councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twelve 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) lost its majority, obtaining a plurality of eleven seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.^[8]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	12,543	46.97	6	12,288	46.74	5	11
	Inkatha Freedom Party	11,152	41.76	6	11,183	42.54	4	10
	Economic Freedom Fighters	861	3.22	0	870	3.31	1	1
	Independent Alliance	247	0.92	0	454	1.73	1	1
	Democratic Alliance	332	1.24	0	313	1.19	0	0
	African Independent Congress	245	0.92	0	249	0.95	0	0
	Independent candidates	455	1.70	0				0
	Abantu Batho Congress	219	0.82	0	234	0.89	0	0
	National Freedom Party	172	0.64	0	194	0.74	0	0
	African People First	181	0.68	0	167	0.64	0	0
	Justice and Employment Party	173	0.65	0	154	0.59	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	82	0.31	0	81	0.31	0	0
	African People's Movement	25	0.09	0	37	0.14	0	0
	Congress of the People	10	0.04	0	39	0.15	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	10	0.04	0	28	0.11	0	0
Total		26,707	100.00	12	26,291	100.00	11	23
Valid votes		26,707	97.67		26,291	97.60
Invalid/blank votes		638	2.33		647	2.40
Total votes		27,345	100.00		26,938	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		49,978	54.71		49,978	53.90