Umvoti Local Municipality elections

The Umvoti Local Municipality council consists of twenty-seven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Fourteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in fourteen wards, while the remaining thirteen 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 fifteen seats on the council. The party lost its majority in the election of 1 November 2021, obtaining a plurality of ten.

Results

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

Event	ANC	DA	IFP	Other	Total
2000 election	5	2	13	0	20
2006 election	8	1	12	0	21
2011 election	10	1	9	2	22
2016 election	15	1	11	0	27
2021 election	10	1	9	7	27

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	8,931	61.79	8	9,104	62.96	5	13
	African National Congress	3,229	22.34	1	3,019	20.88	4	5
	Democratic Alliance	1,580	10.93	2	1,583	10.95	0	2
	Zibambeleni Development Organisation	523	3.62	0	753	5.21	0	0
	Independent candidates	190	1.31	0				0
Total		14,453	100.00	11	14,459	100.00	9	20
Valid votes		14,453	97.42		14,459	97.56
Invalid/blank votes		383	2.58		362	2.44
Total votes		14,836	100.00		14,821	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		34,542	42.95		34,542	42.91

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	10,764	54.87	8	10,643	54.31	4	12
	African National Congress	7,241	36.91	3	7,489	38.22	5	8
	Democratic Alliance	1,116	5.69	0	1,129	5.76	1	1
	National Democratic Convention	375	1.91	0	334	1.70	0	0
	Independent candidates	123	0.63	0				0
Total		19,619	100.00	11	19,595	100.00	10	21
Valid votes		19,619	97.87		19,595	97.73
Invalid/blank votes		427	2.13		455	2.27
Total votes		20,046	100.00		20,050	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		39,418	50.85		39,418	50.87

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	11,733	42.42	6	12,052	43.58	4	10
	Inkatha Freedom Party	11,426	41.31	5	11,295	40.84	4	9
	National Freedom Party	2,610	9.44	0	2,638	9.54	2	2
	Democratic Alliance	1,547	5.59	0	1,473	5.33	1	1
	Minority Front	343	1.24	0	197	0.71	0	0
Total		27,659	100.00	11	27,655	100.00	11	22
Valid votes		27,659	97.94		27,655	98.20
Invalid/blank votes		583	2.06		506	1.80
Total votes		28,242	100.00		28,161	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		44,464	63.52		44,464	63.33

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	19,860	53.56	10	20,050	54.22	5	15
	Inkatha Freedom Party	14,858	40.07	4	15,079	40.77	7	11
	Democratic Alliance	1,320	3.56	0	1,370	3.70	1	1
	Economic Freedom Fighters	599	1.62	0	483	1.31	0	0
	Independent candidates	446	1.20	0				0
Total		37,083	100.00	14	36,982	100.00	13	27
Valid votes		37,083	98.20		36,982	98.34
Invalid/blank votes		678	1.80		626	1.66
Total votes		37,761	100.00		37,608	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		58,550	64.49		58,550	64.23

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	11,847	35.97	6	11,921	36.29	4	10
	Inkatha Freedom Party	10,797	32.78	5	11,113	33.83	4	9
	Abantu Batho Congress	8,004	24.30	3	8,162	24.85	4	7
	Democratic Alliance	749	2.27	0	766	2.33	1	1
	Economic Freedom Fighters	594	1.80	0	511	1.56	0	0
	Independent candidates	511	1.55	0				0
	African Mantungwa Community	246	0.75	0	158	0.48	0	0
	National Freedom Party	113	0.34	0	137	0.42	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	75	0.23	0	82	0.25	0	0
Total		32,936	100.00	14	32,850	100.00	13	27
Valid votes		32,936	98.50		32,850	98.03
Invalid/blank votes		501	1.50		661	1.97
Total votes		33,437	100.00		33,511	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		59,501	56.20		59,501	56.32

With no party obtaining a majority, the council has experienced instability, with multiple short-lived coalitions. Following the election, the Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) formed a coalition. In 2023, the African National Congress (ANC) and ABC agreed on a coalition. In May 2024, the IFP and ANC formed a coalition. The coalition collapsed again in October 2025, when the ANC and ABC again agreed to form a coalition. ^[6]

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.

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
31 May 2022 [7]	13		African National Congress		African National Congress
3 Aug 2022 [8]	5		Inkatha Freedom Party		Inkatha Freedom Party
5 Apr 2023 [9]	6		Inkatha Freedom Party		Inkatha Freedom Party
14 Jun 2023 [10]	2		African National Congress		Inkatha Freedom Party
19 Jun 2024 [11]	10		Abantu Batho Congress		Inkatha Freedom Party

After the death of the previous ward two councillor, a by-election was held on 14 June 2023. In 2021, the African National Congress (ANC) won the ward with 47% of the vote. In the by-election, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) gained support from both the ANC and the Abantu Batho Congress (ABC), winning the ward with 53%, and becoming the largest party in the council. At the time, the ANC and ABC had a working arrangement, and together made up a majority 16 of the 27 seats. ^[10]

References

1. "Election Result Table for LGE2000 — Umvoti". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
2. "Election Result Table for LGE2006 — Umvoti". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
3. "Election Result Table for LGE2011 — Umvoti". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
4. "Election Result Table for LGE2016 — Umvoti". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
5. "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Umvoti". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
6. abrahamkalloor (20 October 2025). "Political chaos grips uMvoti Municipality as alliances shift again". The Witness. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
7. "Our result from KZN finally came in". Twitter. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
8. "Municipal By-elections results - Electoral Commission of South Africa". results.elections.org.za. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
9. Sussman, Wayne (6 April 2023). "APRIL BY-ELECTIONS: Key Tshwane win gives ANC a motivation boost while DA suffers low-turnout blow". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
10. Sussman, Wayne (15 June 2023). "IFP cleans up in KZN, ANC shows Eastern durability despite impressive PA showing". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
11. Sussman, Wayne (20 June 2024). "IFP builds on strong KZN poll showing with more solid wins". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 20 June 2024.