Coalitions Tracker

uMhlabuyalingana

ANC

Largest Party

IFP

Coalition leader

IFP

Current Mayor

N/A

Changes of Mayors

Umhlabuyalingana is one of the five local municipalities that comprise Umkhanyakude District.

Umhlabuyalingana is located in northern KwaZulu-Natal along the border with Mozambique to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, Jozini Municipality to the west and the Big Five False Bay Municipality to the south. The municipality is generally rural, with the population being spread among the 17 municipal wards and four traditional council areas (Tembe, Mashabane Mabaso and Zikhali).

General Information

The Umhlabuyalingana municipality is situated in the North Eastern part of KwaZulu-Natal. The Municipality has an area of 3621 km2 and a population of approximately 163 694 people, with an average household size of 6 people per household, according to the Statistics South Africa 2007 Community survey. The municipality is one of five municipalities that constitute the Umkhanyakude district Municipality. The Municipality has a rural character with 99% of the municipality classified as rural, and consists of 17 wards. Nearly 60 % of the municipal area falls under traditional authority ownership, with the remaining 40% consisting of commercial farms and conservation areas.

Composition of Council

The council has 39 seats with 7 political parties represented. The ANC has the majority of 18 seats, followed by the IFP AT 15, EFF AT 2 and the rest of the political parties with 1 seat respectively.

Key Positions

Name

Party

Position

Cllr. Thembinkosi Sibusiso Khumao

IFP

Mayor

Cllr. Esther Zodwa Mthsali

NFP

Deputy Mayor

Cllr. Moureen Deliwe Mthenjwa

IFP

Speaker

Cllr. Zama Vincent Mthembu

ABMM

Chief Whip

Historical Timeline

The Mayor is the political head of the Municipality and exercises both statutory and ceremonial functions. A mayor is entitled to receive reports from committees of the municipal council and to forward these reports together with a recommendation to the council when the matter cannot be disposed of by the executive mayor in terms of the executive mayor’s delegated powers.
The speaker’s role in a municipality is key to ensuring oversight, accountability, integrity, discipline of office, and the efficient running of council meetings. As such, impartiality in the exercise of his or her function is essential for the speaker. The speaker must distinguish between his or her activities as a politician and his or her functions as a speaker. It also means that the function of the speaker and the non-partisan exercise of that function must be respected by members, parties and interests represented in the council.

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