UMhlabuyalingana Local Municipality elections

The uMhlabuyalingana Local Municipality council consists of thirty-five members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Eighteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in eighteen wards, while the remaining seventeen 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 3 August 2016 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of twenty-two seats on the council.

Results

The following table shows the composition of the council after past elections.

Event	ANC	DA	EFF	IFP	NFP	Other	Total
2000 election	5	-	-	19	-	0	24
2006 election	12	-	-	14	-	0	26
2011 election	22	0	-	8	4	0	34
2016 election	22	1	1	10	-	1	35
2021 election	18	1	2	15	1	2	39

December 2000 election

Main article: 2000 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2000 election.^[1]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	16,983	80.26	12	17,008	80.39	7	19
	African National Congress	4,070	19.24	0	4,149	19.61	5	5
	Independent candidates	106	0.50	0				0
Total		21,159	100.00	12	21,157	100.00	12	24
Valid votes		21,159	96.81		21,157	96.74
Invalid/blank votes		697	3.19		713	3.26
Total votes		21,856	100.00		21,870	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		41,401	52.79		41,401	52.82

March 2006 election

Main article: 2006 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2006 election.^[2]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	16,250	54.25	8	15,948	53.21	6	14
	African National Congress	13,629	45.50	5	13,582	45.32	7	12
	National Democratic Convention	74	0.25	0	440	1.47	0	0
Total		29,953	100.00	13	29,970	100.00	13	26
Valid votes		29,953	96.80		29,970	97.04
Invalid/blank votes		989	3.20		915	2.96
Total votes		30,942	100.00		30,885	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		53,047	58.33		53,047	58.22

May 2011 election

Main article: 2011 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.^[3]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	25,584	63.46	17	25,952	64.53	5	22
	Inkatha Freedom Party	9,387	23.28	0	9,183	22.83	8	8
	National Freedom Party	4,546	11.28	0	4,365	10.85	4	4
	African Christian Democratic Party	366	0.91	0	162	0.40	0	0
	Democratic Alliance	193	0.48	0	327	0.81	0	0
	Federal Congress	125	0.31	0	145	0.36	0	0
	South African Democratic Congress	116	0.29	0	84	0.21	0	0
Total		40,317	100.00	17	40,218	100.00	17	34
Valid votes		40,317	98.14		40,218	98.13
Invalid/blank votes		763	1.86		767	1.87
Total votes		41,080	100.00		40,985	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		65,406	62.81		65,406	62.66

August 2016 election

Main article: 2016 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.^[4]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	27,912	56.58	17	28,836	60.05	5	22
	Inkatha Freedom Party	13,304	26.97	1	13,897	28.94	9	10
	Independent candidates	5,212	10.57	0				0
	African Independent Congress	1,065	2.16	0	2,865	5.97	1	1
	Democratic Alliance	933	1.89	0	1,278	2.66	1	1
	Economic Freedom Fighters	905	1.83	0	1,140	2.37	1	1
	Zulu Royal Property	0	0.00	0				0
Total		49,331	100.00	18	48,016	100.00	17	35
Valid votes		49,331	97.19		48,016	95.52
Invalid/blank votes		1,428	2.81		2,251	4.48
Total votes		50,759	100.00		50,267	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		79,546	63.81		79,546	63.19

August 2016 to November 2021 by-elections

Following a by election which took place in March 2019 the ANC won a ward previously held by the IFP, and the council was reconstituted as follows:

Party		Ward	PR list	Total
	ANC	18	5	23
	Inkatha Freedom Party	0	9	9
	AIC	0	1	1
	DA	0	1	1
	Economic Freedom Fighters	0	1	1
Total		18	17	35

November 2021 election

Main article: 2021 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.^[5]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	21,619	44.95	12	21,884	46.34	6	18
	Inkatha Freedom Party	16,667	34.65	8	17,849	37.79	7	15
	Economic Freedom Fighters	2,078	4.32	0	2,167	4.59	2	2
	Independent candidates	2,950	6.13	0				0
	Abahlali Base Mkhanyakude Movement	1,042	2.17	0	1,113	2.36	1	1
	Democratic Alliance	888	1.85	0	951	2.01	1	1
	National Freedom Party	724	1.51	0	728	1.54	1	1
	African Christian Democratic Party	641	1.33	0	699	1.48	1	1
	Abantu Batho Congress	590	1.23	0	616	1.30	0	0
	African Independent Congress	535	1.11	0	654	1.38	0	0
	Justice and Employment Party	121	0.25	0	208	0.44	0	0
	Black First Land First	82	0.17	0	94	0.20	0	0
	United Christian Democratic Party	73	0.15	0	53	0.11	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	51	0.11	0	69	0.15	0	0
	People's Freedom Party	20	0.04	0	72	0.15	0	0
	African People's Movement	12	0.02	0	45	0.10	0	0
	Umnotho Democratic Front	5	0.01	0	26	0.06	0	0
	Zulu Royal Property	1	0.00	0				0
Total		48,099	100.00	20	47,228	100.00	19	39
Valid votes		48,099	97.54		47,228	97.06
Invalid/blank votes		1,212	2.46		1,429	2.94
Total votes		49,311	100.00		48,657	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		85,431	57.72		85,431	56.95

By-elections from November 2021

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period from the election in November 2021.^[6]

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
26 Apr 2023[7]	19		African National Congress		Inkatha Freedom Party
13 Feb 2025[8]	15		African National Congress		Inkatha Freedom Party

Following the February 2025 by-election, the Inkatha Freedom Party became the largest party. The council composition is as follows:

Party	Ward seats	List seats	Total seats
Inkatha Freedom Party	10	7	17
African National Congress	10	6	16
Economic Freedom Fighters	0	2	2
Abahlali Base Mkhanyakude Movement	0	1	1
Democratic Alliance	0	1	1
National Freedom Party	0	1	1
African Christian Democratic Party	0	1	1
Total	20	19	39

References

1. "Election Result Table for LGE2000 — uMhlabuyalingana". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
2. "Election Result Table for LGE2006 — uMhlabuyalingana". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
3. "Election Result Table for LGE2011 — uMhlabuyalingana". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
4. "Election Result Table for LGE2016 — uMhlabuyalingana". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
5. "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — uMhlabuyalingana". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
6. "Municipal By-elections results - Electoral Commission of South Africa". results.elections.org.za. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
7. Sussman, Wayne (27 April 2023). "APRIL BY-ELECTIONS: EFF records famous victory over ANC in Free State as IFP turns tables on ruling party in KZN". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
8. Sussman, Wayne (13 February 2025). "By-elections: IFP stuns ANC, MK in KZN ward". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 14 February 2025.