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Who runs Amajuba?

Thembelihle Mthembu (IFP) is (Mayor The leader of the municipality. Councillors choose this person, not voters. So the seats each party wins decide who can lead.) of Amajuba, as of 11 Mar 2026. In 2021, no (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) won more than half of the (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) voters choose directly in Amajuba.

Checked 16 Oct 2026. Sourced, not yet reviewed.

Photo: Newcastle · Marco Scholtz, Public domain

Checked 16 Oct 2026. Sourced, not yet reviewed.

Which party controls the council?

Voters choose the (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.). The council chooses the (Mayor The leader of the municipality. Councillors choose this person, not voters. So the seats each party wins decide who can lead.).

Thembelihle Mthembu (IFP) is acting mayor of Amajuba, as the (Municipality The local government for your area. It looks after local services, such as water, rubbish removal and local roads. There are 257.) said in March 2026. Acting means standing in for now. In January 2026 the Pietermaritzburg High Court cancelled the May 2025 election of Mthembu as mayor, and of his deputy. The court ordered a new election. No report of a new mayoral election was found. This (District council A council over several local municipalities. It runs services for the whole area. There are 44. Voters outside the metros also vote for it.) is led by the IFP. It has 29 (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.). The seats are IFP 10, ANC 9, EFF 4, Team Sugar 3, DA 2 and ActionSA 1, as reported in February 2026. In 2021, no (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) won more than half of the 12 seats voters choose directly.

What the sources said, by date

  1. As of 11 Mar 2026

    Cllr Thembelihle Mthembu was acting mayor of the Amajuba District Municipality, the municipality's news page says in items dated 6 and 11 March 2026.

  2. This was true then. Newer rows above may change it.

    As of 2 Mar 2026

    Cllr T.E. Mthembu, whose first name is Thembelihle, was acting mayor, according to a municipal newsletter dated 2 March 2026. Cllr uMntwana S.O. Zulu was speaker (the (Councillor A person elected to make decisions for a municipality, such as the budget and who the mayor is. Each one holds one seat.) who chairs council meetings).

  3. As of 3 Feb 2026

    The Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled that the 20 May 2025 council meeting was unlawful. That meeting elected IFP mayor Thembekile Mthembu and deputy Shaka Sithole. It came after the IFP dismissed Prince Ndabuko Zulu as mayor. The court ordered the election of a new mayor and deputy. The case was brought by the ANC and smaller parties.

  4. As of 3 Feb 2026

    The Amajuba council has 29 seats. The ANC has 9 and works with the EFF's 4. ActionSA has 1. The IFP has 10 and relies on the DA's 2. Team Sugar SA has 3.

  5. As of 2 Feb 2026

    After the ruling, the municipality said that IFP's Thembelihle Mthembu was acting mayor again. It also said a special council meeting would look at the judgment.

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How were the seats split?

Voters choose 12 of this (District council A council over several local municipalities. It runs services for the whole area. There are 44. Voters outside the metros also vote for it.) (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) directly. The (Local municipality A municipality for a town or rural area outside the metros. There are 205.) send the other members. A (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) needs 7 of these 12 seats to win more than half of them. No party has that many.

  • ANC4
  • IFP4
  • EFF2
  • DA1
  • Team Sugar South Africa1

Each dot is one seat. The dot with a ring is seat 7. That is more than half of the seats voters choose directly. Each party shows in its own colour. One party has no colour on record, so it is grey too.

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What has the council done?

We have not checked any claims about this (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.) yet. That is not a mark for or against it.

Core servicesWater, lights, rubbish and roads: what your council runs.No checks yet

Housing and landHouses, informal settlements and title deeds.No checks yet

Safety and jobsCrime, metro police and work in your area.No checks yet

Governance and moneyCorruption, audits and budgets: how your council uses your money.No checks yet

What the official records say

From the Auditor-General and the national government. Every council gets the same checks. A council that is not on a list shows no row.

The Auditor-General gave the Amajuba district council a qualified audit opinion for 2024-25. It got the same result in 2023-24.

This means some parts of its accounts had big mistakes, or it could not show proof for some amounts.

Auditor-General of South Africa, 24 June 2026

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How does voting work here?

You can only vote at the (Voting station The place where you vote, often a school or a hall. You can only vote at the one where you are registered.) where you are (Registered Your name is on the voters' roll. Registration for this election closed on 7 August 2026.).

Pick what matters to you and see which parties promised it, with a link to where it said so.

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