Nongoma Local Municipality

Nongoma Local Municipality is a local municipality in the northeastern part of Zululand in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It is Zululand's second largest municipality in terms of population and the second largest in terms of area.[3] It shares its name with the town of Nongoma, which serves as the seat of the municipality.

Nongoma
Official seal of Nongoma
Location of Nongoma Local Municipality within KwaZulu-Natal
Location of Nongoma Local Municipality within KwaZulu-Natal
Coordinates: 27°55′S 31°39′E
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceKwaZulu-Natal
DistrictZululand
SeatNongoma
Wards25
Government
  TypeMunicipal council
  MayorMA Mncwango (2007)
Area
  Total2,182 km2 (842 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[2]
  Total194,908
  Density89/km2 (230/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
  Black African99.5%
  Coloured0.1%
  Indian/Asian0.2%
  White0.1%
First languages (2011)
  Zulu96.5%
  Other3.5%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal codeKZN265

Nongoma is predominantly a rural municipality. It encompasses 363 settlements, only one of which (Nongoma) has some urban characteristics. 98.34% of the population lives in rural areas. The level of education is low. Only 33% of the population have a primary education; only 5.3% have an education to Grade 12.[4]

Infrastructure and facilities

The Nongoma Local Municipality has one hospital and twelve clinics/health facilities. There is one full-fledged police station, one social development office facility, one full-fledged post office, one library, and two sports facilities. There are about 25 community primary schools, 13 high schools, and one Further Education and Training (FET) college active in the area.[4]

Only 12% of the community have access to electricity. The remaining 88% meet their energy needs using hydrocarbon (coal, gas, and paraffin) and/or biomass (wood, cow-dung, and crop waste). The task of collecting these have severe social and health costs which accrue primarily to rural women and children.

A radial network of roads converges in Nongoma Local Municipality. The rural roads are generally in poor condition and are often inaccessible during the rainy season. Although there are 12 clinics that serve the three tribal authority areas, a number of people still do not have access to these clinics due to poor road conditions and limited access to roads. In some areas there are no clinics and thus the people are deprived of basic health care. The situation contributes to the poor health conditions in the municipality.

Almost 56% of Nongoma's communities have no access to a telephone network. Only 1% of the municipality's households have a telephone in their actual dwelling.

There is an airstrip at eBukhalini that services the flight needs of the region. The airstrip is mainly used by specialist surgeons who visit the local Benedictine Hospital on a regular basis. The local business community and the king of the Zulu nation also use the airstrip.

Natural environment

The rugged mountainous terrain and the contrasting grass lands of Nongoma provide a scenic quality. However, the environment in Nongoma is currently in a state of degradation. Overgrazing and incorrect cultivation methods have led to erosion and the degradation of field quality. Important river systems are the Ivuna River, Black Mfolozi River and Mona River. Water pollution is a common problem in the area as the people use the rivers for all purposes, including washing clothes, animal feed, human consumption and other purposes. In many areas the rivers and streams are the only water source available to the communities.[4]

Politics

The municipal council consists of forty-five members elected by mixed-member proportional representation. Twenty-three councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in twenty-three wards, while the remaining twenty-two 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 Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) lost its majority, winning a plurality of twenty-one seats on the council. The following table shows the results of the election.[5]

PartyWardListTotal
seats
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Inkatha Freedom Party22,37645.082023,56847.12121
National Freedom Party14,55729.33314,81929.621013
African National Congress8,45317.0308,41116.8188
Economic Freedom Fighters1,9223.8701,8853.7722
Independent candidates1,0592.1300
National People's Front4230.8505091.0211
African Christian Democratic Party3230.6503260.6500
Democratic Alliance3010.6103060.6100
Abantu Batho Congress1330.270910.1800
African Transformation Movement510.100490.1000
African People's Movement390.080580.1200
Total49,637100.002350,022100.002245
Valid votes49,63798.6450,02298.63
Invalid/blank votes6841.366971.37
Total votes50,321100.0050,719100.00
Registered voters/turnout98,13751.2898,13751.68

Main places

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

PlaceCodeArea (km2)Population
Mandlakazi530011,334.31105,341
Matheni53002231.8820,339
Nongoma5300310.132,743
Usuthu53004609.0270,020

References

  1. "Contact list: Executive Mayors". Government Communication & Information System. Archived from the original on 14 July 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. "Statistics by place". Statistics South Africa. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  3. "KwaZulu-Natal Top Business | Nongoma Municipality". Archived from the original on 2010-01-13. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  4. The Integrated Development Plan - Final Report, July 2008. Nongoma Local Municipality. Retrieved on Oct 11, 2009.
  5. "Election Result Table for LGE2021 — Nongoma". wikitable.frith.dev. Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  6. Lookup Tables - Statistics South Africa
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