Mthonjaneni Local Municipality elections

The Mthonjaneni Local Municipality council consists of twenty-five members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Thirteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirteen wards, while the remaining twelve are chosen from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received.

The municipality was enlarged at the time of the 2016 South African municipal elections when part of the disbanded Ntambanana Local Municipality was merged into it.^[1]

In the election of 3 August 2016 the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) won a majority of fourteen seats on the council. The party lost its majority in the election of 1 November 2021, obtaining a plurality of twelve seats.

Results

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

Event	ANC	EFF	IFP	NFP	Other	Total
2000 election	1	-	10	-	0	11
2006 election	3	-	8	-	0	11
2011 election	5	-	5	1	0	11
2016 election	10	1	14	-	0	25
2021 election	10	1	12	1	1	25

December 2000 election

Main article: 2000 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2000 election.^[2]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	7,424	88.23	6	7,251	86.36	4	10
	African National Congress	820	9.75	0	756	9.00	1	1
	Democratic Alliance				277	3.30	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	78	0.93	0	112	1.33	0	0
	Independent candidates	92	1.09	0				0
Total		8,414	100.00	6	8,396	100.00	5	11
Valid votes		8,414	97.86		8,396	97.66
Invalid/blank votes		184	2.14		201	2.34
Total votes		8,598	100.00		8,597	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		18,757	45.84		18,757	45.83

March 2006 election

Main article: 2006 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2006 election.^[3]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	7,323	70.12	6	7,311	70.37	2	8
	African National Congress	2,658	25.45	0	2,590	24.93	3	3
	Democratic Alliance	280	2.68	0	303	2.92	0	0
	National Democratic Convention	182	1.74	0	186	1.79	0	0
Total		10,443	100.00	6	10,390	100.00	5	11
Valid votes		10,443	97.54		10,390	97.56
Invalid/blank votes		263	2.46		260	2.44
Total votes		10,706	100.00		10,650	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		20,466	52.31		20,466	52.04

May 2011 election

Main article: 2011 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.^[4]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	6,197	45.58	3	6,229	45.77	2	5
	African National Congress	5,721	42.08	3	5,737	42.16	2	5
	National Freedom Party	1,449	10.66	0	1,373	10.09	1	1
	Democratic Alliance	169	1.24	0	213	1.57	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	61	0.45	0	56	0.41	0	0
Total		13,597	100.00	6	13,608	100.00	5	11
Valid votes		13,597	98.48		13,608	98.60
Invalid/blank votes		210	1.52		193	1.40
Total votes		13,807	100.00		13,801	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		22,731	60.74		22,731	60.71

August 2016 election

Main article: 2016 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.^[5]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	15,553	56.60	11	15,561	56.56	3	14
	African National Congress	11,225	40.85	2	11,287	41.03	8	10
	Economic Freedom Fighters	433	1.58	0	397	1.44	1	1
	Democratic Alliance	270	0.98	0	267	0.97	0	0
Total		27,481	100.00	13	27,512	100.00	12	25
Valid votes		27,481	98.33		27,512	98.45
Invalid/blank votes		466	1.67		434	1.55
Total votes		27,947	100.00		27,946	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		44,562	62.71		44,562	62.71

August 2016 to November 2021 by-elections

In a by-election held on 25 July 2018, a ward previously held by an ANC councillor was won by the IFP candidate.^[6] Council composition was reconfigured as seen below:

Party		Ward	PR list	Total
	Inkatha Freedom Party	12	3	15
	African National Congress	1	8	9
	Economic Freedom Fighters	0	1	1
Total		13	12	25

November 2021 election

Main article: 2021 South African municipal elections

The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.^[7]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Inkatha Freedom Party	10,734	46.51	8	11,391	49.34	4	12
	African National Congress	8,755	37.93	5	8,735	37.84	5	10
	Independent candidates	2,088	9.05	0				0
	Academic Congress Union				1,430	6.19	1	1
	Economic Freedom Fighters	644	2.79	0	675	2.92	1	1
	National Freedom Party	525	2.27	0	510	2.21	1	1
	Democratic Alliance	118	0.51	0	109	0.47	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	111	0.48	0	93	0.40	0	0
	Abantu Batho Congress	65	0.28	0	68	0.29	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	28	0.12	0	45	0.19	0	0
	African People's Movement	11	0.05	0	31	0.13	0	0
Total		23,079	100.00	13	23,087	100.00	12	25
Valid votes		23,079	98.44		23,087	98.51
Invalid/blank votes		366	1.56		350	1.49
Total votes		23,445	100.00		23,437	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		45,408	51.63		45,408	51.61

By-elections from November 2021

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

Date	Ward	Party of the previous councillor		Party of the newly elected councillor
31 August 2022	12		African National Congress		Inkatha Freedom Party
19 July 2023[8]	6		African National Congress		Inkatha Freedom Party
19 June 2024[9]	10		African National Congress		Inkatha Freedom Party

After the August 2022 by-election, the IFP gained an outright majority by winning a ward from the ANC. As of June 2024, the IFP have won three consecutive wards off the ANC. The composition of the council is as follows:^[9]

Party	Ward	List	Total
Inkatha Freedom Party	11	4	15
African National Congress	2	5	7
Academic Congress Union	0	1	1
Economic Freedom Fighters	0	1	1
National Freedom Party	0	1	1
Total	13	12	25