The Umvoti Local Municipality 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 3 August 2016 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of fifteen seats on the council. The party lost its majority in the election of 1 November 2021, obtaining a plurality of ten.
Results The following table shows the composition of the council after past elections. Event ANC DA IFP Other Total 2000 election 5 2 13 0 20 2006 election 8 1 12 0 21 2011 election 10 1 9 2 22 2016 election 15 1 11 0 27 2021 election 10 1 9 7 27
December 2000 election
The following table shows the results of the 2000 election.
March 2006 election
The following table shows the results of the 2006 election.
May 2011 election
The following table shows the results of the 2011 election.
August 2016 election
The following table shows the results of the 2016 election.
November 2021 election
The following table shows the results of the 2021 election.
With no party obtaining a majority, the council has experienced instability, with multiple short-lived coalitions. Following the election, the Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) formed a coalition. In 2023, the African National Congress (ANC) and ABC agreed on a coalition. In May 2024, the IFP and ANC formed a coalition. The coalition collapsed again in October 2025, when the ANC and ABC again agreed to form a coalition.
By-elections from November 2021 The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period from the election in November 2021.
Date Ward Party of the previous councillor Party of the newly elected councillor 31 May 2022 13 3 Aug 2022 5 5 Apr 2023 6 14 Jun 2023 2 19 Jun 2024 10
After the death of the previous ward two councillor, a by-election was held on 14 June 2023. In 2021, the African National Congress (ANC) won the ward with 47% of the vote. In the by-election, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) gained support from both the ANC and the Abantu Batho Congress (ABC), winning the ward with 53%, and becoming the largest party in the council. At the time, the ANC and ABC had a working arrangement, and together made up a majority 16 of the 27 seats.
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