Mtubatuba Local Municipality elections

The Mtubatuba Local Municipality council consists of forty-five members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-three councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-three wards, while the remaining twenty-two 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 1 November 2021 no party obtained a majority. The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) received the most seats with nineteen.

Results

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

Event	AIC	ANC	DA	EFF	IFP	NFP	Other	Total
2000 election	-	2	1	-	7	-	0	10
2006 election	-	4	0	-	5	-	1	10
2011 election	-	16	0	-	15	7	0	38
2016 election	1	18	2	1	18	-	0	40
2021 election	1	16	1	4	19	1	3	45

December 2000 election

Main article: 2000 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2000 election.

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	3,222	66.08	5	3,244	66.48	2	7
	African National Congress	911	18.68	0	920	18.85	2	2
	Democratic Alliance	589	12.08	0	604	12.38	1	1
	African Christian Democratic Party	90	1.85	0	112	2.30	0	0
	Independent candidates	64	1.31	0				0
Total		4,876	100.00	5	4,880	100.00	5	10
Valid votes		4,876	97.95		4,880	98.03
Invalid/blank votes		102	2.05		98	1.97
Total votes		4,978	100.00		4,978	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		13,768	36.16		13,768	36.16

March 2006 election

Main article: 2006 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2006 election.

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	3,469	49.35	4	3,464	49.23	1	5
	African National Congress	2,545	36.20	1	2,627	37.33	3	4
	National Democratic Convention	501	7.13	0	479	6.81	1	1
	Democratic Alliance	369	5.25	0	467	6.64	0	0
	Independent candidates	146	2.08	0				0
Total		7,030	100.00	5	7,037	100.00	5	10
Valid votes		7,030	97.27		7,037	97.36
Invalid/blank votes		197	2.73		191	2.64
Total votes		7,227	100.00		7,228	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		17,431	41.46		17,431	41.47

May 2011 election

Main article: 2011 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	17,476	40.59	10	17,718	41.14	6	16
	Inkatha Freedom Party	17,290	40.15	9	17,057	39.60	6	15
	National Freedom Party	7,554	17.54	0	7,204	16.73	7	7
	Democratic Alliance	83	0.19	0	790	1.83	0	0
	South African Democratic Congress	324	0.75	0	186	0.43	0	0
	Independent candidates	227	0.53	0				0
	African Christian Democratic Party	105	0.24	0	114	0.26	0	0
Total		43,059	100.00	19	43,069	100.00	19	38
Valid votes		43,059	98.33		43,069	98.47
Invalid/blank votes		730	1.67		669	1.53
Total votes		43,789	100.00		43,738	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		73,367	59.68		73,367	59.62

August 2016 election

Main article: 2016 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	24,558	44.63	10	24,812	45.08	8	18
	African National Congress	24,180	43.94	10	24,219	44.01	8	18
	Democratic Alliance	2,118	3.85	0	2,089	3.80	2	2
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,969	3.58	0	1,964	3.57	1	1
	African Independent Congress	1,237	2.25	0	1,769	3.21	1	1
	Independent candidates	962	1.75	0				0
	Peoples Alliance	1	0.00	0	181	0.33	0	0
Total		55,025	100.00	20	55,034	100.00	20	40
Valid votes		55,025	97.57		55,034	97.31
Invalid/blank votes		1,368	2.43		1,522	2.69
Total votes		56,393	100.00		56,556	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		90,718	62.16		90,718	62.34

August 2016 to November 2021 by-elections

In a by-election held on 23 May 2018, a ward previously held by an ANC councillor was won by the IFP candidate. In another by-election held on 12 December 2018, ANC was able to win a ward previously held by the IFP. IFP won a second ward previously held by ANC in another by-election on 12 June 2019. Ward council composition after the three by-elections is as seen below.

Party		Ward	PR list	Total
	Inkatha Freedom Party	11	8	19
	African National Congress	9	8	17
	DA	0	2	2
	AIC	0	1	1
	Economic Freedom Fighters	0	1	1
Total		20	20	40

November 2021 election

Main article: 2021 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	23,138	40.72	15	25,053	44.16	4	19
	African National Congress	19,903	35.03	7	20,949	36.92	9	16
	Economic Freedom Fighters	5,148	9.06	0	5,146	9.07	4	4
	Independent candidates	3,202	5.63	1				1
	African Christian Democratic Party	1,192	2.10	0	1,263	2.23	1	1
	Democratic Alliance	1,065	1.87	0	1,119	1.97	1	1
	African Independent Congress	656	1.15	0	588	1.04	1	1
	United Democratic Movement	533	0.94	0	531	0.94	1	1
	National Freedom Party	493	0.87	0	494	0.87	1	1
	United Christian Democratic Party	502	0.88	0	457	0.81	0	0
	African People's Movement	281	0.49	0	325	0.57	0	0
	African People's Convention	164	0.29	0	227	0.40	0	0
	Abantu Batho Congress	186	0.33	0	159	0.28	0	0
	Al Jama-ah	99	0.17	0	95	0.17	0	0
	Democratic Union Plus	111	0.20	0	81	0.14	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	89	0.16	0	102	0.18	0	0
	Black First Land First	34	0.06	0	50	0.09	0	0
	National People's Front	19	0.03	0	60	0.11	0	0
	Patriotic Alliance	10	0.02	0	37	0.07	0	0
Total		56,825	100.00	23	56,736	100.00	22	45
Valid votes		56,825	98.07		56,736	98.04
Invalid/blank votes		1,118	1.93		1,133	1.96
Total votes		57,943	100.00		57,869	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		101,008	57.36		101,008	57.29

By-elections from November 2021

The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period since the election in November 2021.

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
18 January 2023	9		African National Congress		Inkatha Freedom Party
15 February 2023	4		African National Congress		Inkatha Freedom Party

In ward 9, narrowly held by the African National Congress (ANC) in 2021, the councillor resigned. The ANC failed to register a candidate in time for the resulting by-election, and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) picked up the seat with 77% of the vote, solidifying their coalition in the council.

In ward 4, after the ANC councillor's resignation, the IFP won the resulting by-election.