UMhlathuze Local Municipality
uMhlathuze Local Municipality is an administrative area in the King Cetshwayo District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The municipality is named after the Mhlatuze River.
The municipality was enlarged at the time of the South African municipal election, 2016 when part of the disbanded Ntambanana Local Municipality was merged into it.
Main places
The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:| Place | Code | Area | Population |
| Bejani | 12.82 | 4,654 | |
| Dube | 53.95 | 52,239 | |
| Empangeni | 14.00 | 13,306 | |
| Esikhawini | 5.90 | 32,437 | |
| Khoza | 14.32 | 24,172 | |
| Kwambonambi Forest Reserve | 56.58 | 117 | |
| Mkhwanazi | 66.29 | 22,758 | |
| Nkwanazi | 31.86 | 25,780 | |
| Nseleni | 1.30 | 8,873 | |
| Richards Bay Part 1 | 75.80 | 30,605 | |
| Richards Bay Part 2 | 0.42 | 382 | |
| Richards Bay Part 3 | 21.19 | 13,865 | |
| Umlalazi Nature Reserve | 27.89 | 347 | |
| Vulindlela | 2.44 | 4,044 | |
| Zungu/Madlebe | 71.06 | 48,977 | |
| Remainder of the municipality | 339.73 | 6,630 |
Politics
The municipal council consists of sixty-seven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirty-four councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirty-four wards, while the remaining thirty-three 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 won a majority of forty-three seats on the council.The following table shows the results of the election.