Coalitions Tracker

uMhlathuze

ANC

Largest Party

IFP

Coalition leader

IFP

Current Mayor

N/A

Changes of Mayors

The City of uMhlathuze Local Municipality is a Category B municipality situated within the King Cetshwayo District on the north-east coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

The City of uMhlathuze (KZ 282) is situated on the north-east coast of the province of KwaZulu-Natal, about 180 kilometres north-east of Durban. The City of uMhlathuze comprises of the central business districts of Richards Bay, eMpangeni, Heatonville and Buchanana in Ntambanana.

General Information

The City of uMhlathuze is the best secondary city in KwaZulu-Natal and seventh in the country. It boasts the deepest water port, in Richards Bay, and is home to the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ), which drives the inwards investment of the City through foreign direct investments. It is the fastest-growing municipality in KwaZulu-Natal and has been touted as the best performing municipality in the province. The City of uMhlathuze is a strategically placed, aspirant metropol due to its rapid economic growth and ability to generate sustainable revenue. Richards Bay is considered to be the industrial and tourism hub, eMpangeni the commercial hub, eSikhaleni the largest suburb, and Ntambanana is the home of safari tourism as it hosts the renowned Thula Thula Private Game Reserve. The economy of the municipality is based on manufacturing (45.9%), mining and quarrying (11.6%), financial, real estate and business (10.7%), community, social and personal services (10.4%), transport and communication (9.1%), trade (6.3%), agriculture, forestry and fishing (3.2%)

Composition of Council

The council has 67 seats with 7 political parties represented in council. The ANC is leading with 27 seats followed by the DA at 23. The DA has 8, EFF 6 while the rest of the parties have 1 seat respectively.

Key Positions

Name

Party

Position

Cllr. Xolani Ngwezi

IFP

Mayor

Cllr. Christo Marius Botha

Deputy Mayor

Cllr. Tobias Seze Gumede

IFP

Speaker

Historical Timeline

The powers and functions of the Mayor are set out in section 56 of the Structures Act. The Mayor is the political head of the Municipality and exercises both statutory and ceremonial functions. An executive 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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