Durban is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South Africa, on the Natal Bay of the Indian Ocean, Durban is South Africa's busiest port and was formerly named Port Natal. North of the harbour and city centre lies the mouth of the Umgeni River; the flat city centre rises to the hills of the Berea on the west; and to the south, running along the coast, is the Bluff. Durban is the seat of the larger eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which spans an area of 2,556 km2 (987 sq mi) and had a population of 4.2 million in 2022, making the metropolitan population one of Africa's largest on the Indian Ocean. Within the city limits, Durban's population was 595,061 in 2011. The city has a humid subtropical climate, with hot, wet summers and mild, dry winters.
Municipal elections were held in South Africa on 1 March 2006, to elect members to the local governing councils in the municipalities of South Africa. The municipalities form the local government of South Africa and are subdivisions of the provinces, thus making them responsible for local service delivery, such as electricity, water and fire services.
Vulamehlo Local Municipality was a local municipality in Ugu District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal. It was located south of the eThekwini municipality and bordered by uMdoni to the east, Mkhambathini and Richmond to the north and Ubuhlebezwe to the west. There is an almost equal split of land between commercial agriculture and traditional settlement areas. 48% of the area is held under communal ownership through traditional authorities; the balance of the area is privately owned, except for Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve, which is managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. In 2016 the municipality was divided between eThekwini and uMdoni.
Below is a list of mayors of Durban, South Africa. In 2000 Durban became the seat of the newly created eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.
The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality which governs Bloemfontein and surrounding towns in the Free State province of South Africa. Mangaung is a Sesotho word meaning "place of cheetahs", as it was not uncommon for the Basotho to name warrior regiments after ferocious animals.
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.
uMuziwabantu Municipality is a local municipality within the Ugu District Municipality, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. uMuziwabantu is an isiZulu word meaning "the people's home", or "a home with wide open doors where everyone is welcome". The main source of income for the area is derived from the municipality's extensive wattle, gum, pine and poplar plantations, and associated industries, including saw mills and furniture-making factories.
The 2016 South African municipal elections were held on 3 August 2016, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. It was the fifth municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994; municipal elections are held every five years.
Zandile Ruth Thelma Gumede is a South African who has been serving as a Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since 2020. She served as the Executive Mayor of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality from 2016 until 2019. Gumede is a member of the African National Congress. And the current Chair Person of the African National Congress (ANC) at EThekwini Region.
Makhosi Busisiwe Khoza is a South African politician who was the ActionSA candidate for Mayor of eThekwini in the 2021 municipal elections. She was previously an ANC Member of Parliament (MP) who served as chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration and on the Portfolio Committee on Economic Development. She became known for calling on then president Jacob Zuma to step down. In 1996, she was appointed as the deputy mayor of the Pietermaritzburg Local Municipality, at the age of 26.
Fawzia Peer is a South African politician and businesswoman. A member of the African National Congress, she was the Deputy Mayor of eThekwini Local Municipality between August 2016 and September 2019. During that time, from June 2019 onwards, she was the Acting Mayor while Mayor Zandile Gumede faced criminal charges.
The 2021 South African Municipal Elections were held on 1 November 2021, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. Being the 6th municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. These held - since then -every five years. The previous municipal elections were held in 2016. On 21 April 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the elections to be held on Wednesday, 27 October 2021. It had been recommend by Dikgang Moseneke to delay the municipal elections until 2022. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) requested the Constitutional Court to support the date postponement. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supported the date postponement while the Democratic Alliance (DA) was against the postponement of the date. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application to postpone the date until 2022, ruling that they had to take place between 27 October and 1 November. On 9 September 2021, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced that the elections would be held on 1 November.
Thomas Mxolisi Kaunda is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal serving as a Permanent Delegate to the National Council of Provinces since 2024. Prior to serving in parliament, he was the Mayor of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality from 2019 until 2024. He was the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison from 2016 to 2019 and a member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 2009 to 2019. Kaunda is a member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
Christopher "Chris" John Pappas is a South African politician who is the mayor of the uMngeni Local Municipality. A member of the Democratic Alliance, he served as party's deputy provincial leader from 2021 until 2023. Pappas served as a member of the eThekwini city council from 2016 until 2019 and as a DA Member of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 2019 to 2021.
Muntukayise Bhekuyise Ntuli was a South African politician. A member of the African National Congress, he served as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 1999 to 2003, when he resigned amid fraud allegations. He was then elected to the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in 2009. On 11 September 2019, Ntuli became the Member of the Executive Council for Transport, Community Safety & Liaison, replacing Mxolisi Kaunda, who was elected Mayor of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. Ntuli died on 16 January 2021, from complications of COVID-19.
Vusumuzi Cyril Xaba is a South African politician and a former Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from 2019 to 2024. He served as Co-Chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence and as Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans. A member of the African National Congress, he previously served in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 1994 to 2009 and from 2014 to 2019. He was the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2014 to 2016. Cyril Xaba was elected as mayor the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which contains the city of Durban, following the resignation of former mayor Mxolisi Kaunda.
The eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality council consists of 222 members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. 111 councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in 111 wards, while the remaining 111 are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.
Philani Godfrey Mavundla is a South African politician, Zulu nationalist and business tycoon who has been the Mayor of the Umvoti Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal since 2023, having previously served from 2011 to 2013 as a member of the African National Congress. He served as the Deputy Mayor of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality from 2021 until 2022. He is the founder and current leader of the Abantu Batho Congress, a party he founded in early-2020 after he resigned from the National Freedom Party (NFP).
Mmabatho Tembe is a South African politician who has served as the Deputy Speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature since June 2024. A member of the Democratic Alliance, she has served in the provincial legislature since December 2021. Tembe had previously served as a councillor in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.
Visvin Gopal Reddy is a South African businessman and politician from Durban. He has been the leader of African Democratic Change since 2020 and represents the party as a local councillor in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.
