Amahlathi Local Municipality

Amahlathi Municipality (Xhosa: uMasipala wase Amahlathi) is a local municipality within the Amatole District Municipality, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Amahlati is an isiXhosa word meaning "a place where many trees are grouped together, a forest". Forests are a key feature of the area.^[3] From 1972 to 1994, much of the land now encompassing the municipality was part of the former Ciskei bantustan.

Amahlathi
Local municipality
Seal
Location in the Eastern Cape
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
District	Amathole
Seat	Stutterheim
Wards	20
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Agnes Hobo (ANC)
• Speaker	Mxolisi Mjikelo (ANC)
• Chief Whip	Dumisani Mzili (ANC)
Area
• Total	4,820 km2 (1,860 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	122,778
• Density	25/km2 (66/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	96.5%
• Coloured	1.2%
• Indian/Asian	0.1%
• White	2.0%
First languages (2011) [2]
• Xhosa	93.4%
• English	2.9%
• Afrikaans	2.0%
• Other	1.7%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	EC124

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:^[4]

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population
Amahlathi	21301	86.06	11,511
Amantinde	21302	2.83	2,148
Amazizi	21303	258.26	13,230
Cathcart	21304	51.47	2,073
Cumakala	21305	3.48	12,424
Daliwe	21306	0.53	2,704
Dohne	21307	0.42	0
Eluxolweni	21308	11.66	2,372
Emthonjeni	21309	7.17	1,242
Frankfort	21310	0.28	362
Gxulu	21311	0.73	96
Heckel	21312	6.07	462
Hlubi	21313	1.00	2,145
Katikati	21314	8.16	3,212
Keiskammahoek North	21316	370.99	22,455
Keiskammahoek	21315	5.38	2,302
Lusikisiki	21317	18.49	523
Marienthal	21318	0.73	130
Ngqika	21319	172.63	9,534
Peelton	21320	18.86	13,035
Stutterheim Part 1	21321	67.58	5,052
Stutterheim Part 2	21327	6.17	4,962
Toise	21322	73.59	2,757
Zali's Location	21323	19.14	1,364
Zibula	21324	49.76	3,570
Zwelitsha	21325	37.74	8,651
Remainder of the municipality	21326	2,986.57	10,705

Politics

Main article: Amahlathi Local Municipality elections

The municipal council consists of thirty members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Fifteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in fifteen wards, while the remaining fifteen 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 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of twenty-three seats on the council.

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

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	16,049	70.14	14	17,236	76.00	9	23
	Democratic Alliance	2,110	9.22	0	2,264	9.98	3	3
	Economic Freedom Fighters	1,431	6.25	0	1,660	7.32	2	2
	Independent candidates	2,478	10.83	1				1
	African People's Convention	369	1.61	0	305	1.34	1	1
	Independent South African National Civic Organisation	84	0.37	0	301	1.33	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	146	0.64	0	236	1.04	0	0
	African Independent Congress	30	0.13	0	351	1.55	0	0
	Pan Africanist Congress of Azania	55	0.24	0	90	0.40	0	0
	Congress of the People	59	0.26	0	65	0.29	0	0
	United Independent Movement	65	0.28	0	57	0.25	0	0
	Inkatha Freedom Party	2	0.01	0	81	0.36	0	0
	National Freedom Party	2	0.01	0	34	0.15	0	0
Total		22,880	100.00	15	22,680	100.00	15	30
Valid votes		22,880	97.79		22,680	97.04
Invalid/blank votes		516	2.21		691	2.96
Total votes		23,396	100.00		23,371	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		49,510	47.26		49,510	47.20