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.).
Mxolisi Mthethwa of the IFP is mayor of Mtubatuba. The national contact directory listed Mthethwa as mayor in October 2026, and the 2024/25 financial statements also list him. Mthethwa returned as mayor in February 2022, after court disputes that year. In 2021, no (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) won more than half of the 45 (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.). The IFP won 19. In 2023, the IFP won seats from the ANC in by-elections (a vote to fill one empty (Ward A small area inside a municipality. Each one elects one councillor.) seat). This took the IFP to 21 seats. With the DA and ACDP, the IFP had 23 votes against 22. The province has stepped in several times under Section 139 (the province steps in to run the council). The most recent time was with an administrator (an official sent in to run the council) in 2023. We found no source on when that intervention ended.
What the sources said, by date
As of 16 Oct 2026
The national government contact directory lists Cllr Mxolisi Mthethwa as executive mayor (a mayor who makes many of the council's decisions).
This was true then. Newer rows above may change it.
As of 31 Aug 2025
Cllr M Mthethwa was mayor and Cllr MZ Shobede was deputy mayor in the year ended 30 June 2025. Cllr SJ Shezi was speaker. This is from the audited annual financial statements (accounts checked by an auditor). They do not state the parties.
As of 5 Dec 2024
The IFP held ward 16 in Mtubatuba in a December 2024 by-election. It won 53% of the vote to the ANC's 32%. The by-election followed the death of (Ward councillor A person chosen by the voters of one ward to speak for that area on the council. You vote for them by name.) and former mayor Musawenkosi Mkhwanazi.
As of 16 Feb 2023
The IFP won a ward 4 by-election from the ANC in February 2023. A ward is an area with its own (Councillor A person elected to make decisions for a municipality, such as the budget and who the mayor is. Each one holds one seat.). This took the IFP to 21 seats. With the DA and ACDP, this gave 23 seats against 22 for the bloc led by the ANC. The IFP-EFF (Coalition Parties that agree to run a council together, usually because none has more than half the seats alone. Together they choose the mayor.) (a group of parties that run the council together) had collapsed.
As of 3 Feb 2022
The IFP's Mxolisi Mthethwa returned as mayor through a no-confidence vote (a council vote to remove the mayor or speaker). The EFF's Nothile Mthethwa became deputy mayor. The IFP's Sibongile Mthethwa became speaker (the councillor who chairs council meetings).
As of 9 Nov 2021
Mxolisi Mthethwa was elected as an IFP ward councillor in Mtubatuba in 2021. The ward is 52705010.
How were the seats split?
Who holds the 45 (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) now, counted up to 24 Jun 2026. A (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) needs 23 seats to run the (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.) on its own. No party has that many. So parties must work together to choose the (Mayor The leader of the municipality. Councillors choose this person, not voters. So the seats each party wins decide who can lead.) and pass the budget.
- IFP21
- ANC14
- EFF4
- ACDP1
- African Independent Congress1
- DA1
- 2 other parties2
Each dot is one seat. The dot with a ring is seat 23. That is how many seats one party needs to run the council alone. Each party shows in its own colour. Grey dots are the 2 other parties, with 1 seat each. One party has no colour on record, so it is grey too.
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 Mtubatuba an unqualified audit opinion with findings for 2024-25. That is better than in 2023-24, when it got a qualified opinion.
This means its accounts were right, but the Auditor-General found other problems, such as broken laws or weak reports on its work.
Auditor-General of South Africa, 24 June 2026
Where do I vote, and who is my ward councillor?
Mtubatuba has 23 (Ward A small area inside a municipality. Each one elects one councillor.). 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.
Take the quizFind your town to see your ward, your voting station and every name on your papers.
Or check with the IEC
- Who is my ward councillor now?IEC lookup. Shows your ward and who represents it now. (IEC website)
- Voting station finderIEC map. Find the station where you are registered. (IEC website)
Spotted a mistake? Report a mistake. Every change is logged on the Corrections page.