Johannes Phumani Phungula Local Municipality

Johannes Phumani Phungula Municipality (Zulu: UMasipala iJohannes Phumani Phungula; formerly Ubuhlebezwe Local Municipality) is a local municipality within the Harry Gwala District Municipality, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It was renamed in May 2025 after ANC struggle veteran Johannes Phungula.^[4] The previous name, Ubuhlebezwe, is an isiZulu word meaning "the beauty of the land", derived from Alan Paton's novel, Cry, The Beloved Country.^[5]

Johannes Phumani Phungula Ubuhlebezwe
Local municipality
Seal
Location in KwaZulu-Natal
Country	South Africa
Province	KwaZulu-Natal
District	Harry Gwala District
Seat	Ixopo
Wards	14
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	E.B. Ngubo
Area
• Total	1,604 km2 (619 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	101,691
• Density	63/km2 (160/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	97.5%
• Coloured	1.2%
• Indian/Asian	0.4%
• White	0.8%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Zulu	91.6%
• English	3.1%
• Xhosa	1.6%
• Southern Ndebele	1.3%
• Other	2.4%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	KZN434

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:^[6]

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population
Amakhuze	55101	40.53	4,726
Dlamini/Vusathina Mazulu	55102	19.13	3,532
Dunge	55103	47.70	2,666
Ikhwezi/Lokusa	55104	48.56	12,316
Ixopo	55105	6.24	8,434
Izimpethu Endlovu	55106	10.23	751
Mjoli/Mawushe(Sizwe Hlanganani)	55107	72.47	12,580
Nyuswa	55108	33.78	4,063
Shiyabanye/Nhlangwini	55109	85.96	11,476
Ukuthula	55111	20.04	10,208
Vukani	55112	55.92	9,804
Vumakwenza/Sangcwaba	55113	94.13	4,524
Remainder of the municipality	55110	1,091.78	16,873

Politics

Main article: Ubuhlebezwe Local Municipality elections

The municipal 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 1 November 2021 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of eighteen seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.^[7]

Party		Ward			List			Total seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	18,094	61.68	13	18,694	64.42	5	18
	Economic Freedom Fighters	3,375	11.50	0	3,698	12.74	3	3
	Inkatha Freedom Party	2,043	6.96	0	2,790	9.61	2	2
	Independent candidates	3,280	11.18	1				1
	Democratic Alliance	1,026	3.50	0	1,104	3.80	1	1
	African Independent Congress	813	2.77	0	1,046	3.60	1	1
	National Freedom Party	187	0.64	0	944	3.25	1	1
	People's Freedom Party	210	0.72	0	178	0.61	0	0
	Abantu Batho Congress	114	0.39	0	152	0.52	0	0
	African Transformation Movement	68	0.23	0	194	0.67	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	99	0.34	0	127	0.44	0	0
	South African Peoples Movement	27	0.09	0	92	0.32	0	0
Total		29,336	100.00	14	29,019	100.00	13	27
Valid votes		29,336	96.22		29,019	95.89
Invalid/blank votes		1,154	3.78		1,245	4.11
Total votes		30,490	100.00		30,264	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		57,551	52.98		57,551	52.59