Umzimkhulu
Local municipality
Seal
Location in KwaZulu-Natal
Country	South Africa
Province	KwaZulu-Natal
District	Harry Gwala
Seat	Umzimkhulu
Wards	20
Government [1]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Mphuthumi Mpabanga
Area
• Total	2,435 km2 (940 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[2]
• Total	180,302
• Density	74/km2 (190/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [2]
• Black African	99.3%
• Coloured	0.3%
• Indian/Asian	0.1%
• White	0.1%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Zulu	47.3%
• Xhosa	46.3%
• English	1.6%
• Other	4.8%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	KZN435

Umzimkhulu Municipality (Zulu: UMasipala wase Mzimkhulu; Xhosa: uMasipala wase Mzimkhulu) is a local municipality within the Harry Gwala District Municipality, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Umzimkhulu is an isiXhosa and isiZulu word meaning "big/great house".^[4] Prior to the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution of South Africa in 2005, confirmed by the Thirteenth in 2007, it was part of the Eastern Cape.

About 90.8% of the population reside in rural areas, while the remaining 9.2% are urban-based. The municipality faces severe backlogs with respect to water, sanitation and electricity provision. In addition, road infrastructure remains poor and provides only limited access to the area.^[5]

Main places

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

Politics

The municipal council consists of forty-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-two councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-two wards, while the remaining twenty-one 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 thirty-three seats on the council.

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