Checked 16 October 2026
Where the facts about uMlalazi come from
Every fact on the uMlalazi page, with the sources we used. We save a copy of each source on the day we read it.
Which party controls the council?
Dated reports
As of 31 Jul 2026: A municipal news item dated 31 July 2026 refers to the municipality 'under the leadership of Her Worship Mayor Cllr Q.T. Xulu'.
uMlalazi Local Municipality. Published 31 July 2026.
Where to look: First paragraph
As of 30 Jun 2025: Cllr QT Xulu was mayor and Cllr MM Ngema was deputy mayor in the year ended 30 June 2025. Cllr JK Powell was speaker (the councillor who chairs council meetings). This is from the audited annual financial statements (accounts checked by an auditor). They do not state the parties.
uMlalazi Local Municipality. Page is undated.
Where to look: page 1, General Information, Mayoral committee
As of 8 Oct 2023: uMlalazi mayor Queen Xulu received a Sebenza Women Excellence award. The report describes her as an IFP national executive member. It also quotes the IFP's KwaZulu-Natal chairperson praising her leadership of the municipality.
Daily News. Published 8 October 2023.
Where to look: Paragraphs 1, 3-4 and last paragraph ('IFP NEC member')
As of 9 Nov 2021: In 2021, Queen Theodorah Xulu was elected in uMlalazi as an IFP PR councillor. A PR councillor is a councillor a party gets from its list, to match its share of the votes. Xulu was number 1 on the list.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 9 November 2021.
Where to look: KZN284 - uMlalazi rows, INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY, PR(1)
How were the seats split?
The 2021 result
Who won the 55 seats in 2021.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Page is undated.
Where to look: p. 3 of 3, seat table, Total Party Seats column
Every party
The seats now, by party (ward seats and party seats). Inkatha Freedom Party: 30 (24 ward, 6 party). African National Congress: 18 (4 ward, 14 party). Economic Freedom Fighters: 4 (0 ward, 4 party). Abantu Batho Congress: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). Democratic Alliance: 1 (0 ward, 1 party). National Freedom Party: 1 (0 ward, 1 party).
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: winning party per ward for every by-election since 2021 (dashboard data files: MapsJason/2021/ByElections.js and LoadCouncillorsService); read 2026-10-18
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 9 November 2021.
Where to look: ward councillor rows for this council (party per ward elected in 2021)
The seats now
Who holds the 55 seats now, counted up to 24 Jun 2026. How we count: This is our own count, not an official IEC table. We start with the 2021 party seats from the IEC. Then we add the party that last won each ward, in 2021 or in a by-election. Party seats stay with their party, and councillors can't switch parties. So only ward by-elections change these totals. An empty seat is counted with the party that last held it. The IEC lists by-elections on 5 Oct 2022, but it does not show who won them. So any ward that changed hands that day is not counted.
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: winning party per ward for every by-election since 2021 (dashboard data files: MapsJason/2021/ByElections.js and LoadCouncillorsService); read 2026-10-18
Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Published 9 November 2021.
Where to look: ward councillor rows for this council (party per ward elected in 2021)
What the official records say
Audit result
The Auditor-General gave uMlalazi a clean audit (unqualified with no findings) for 2024-25. It got the same result in 2023-24.
Auditor-General of South Africa. Published 24 June 2026.
Where to look: 'Audit outcome for 2024-25' box and the change from 2023-24 under it (audit of separate financial statements, finalised by 30 April 2026)
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