The Democratic Alliance (DA) KwaZulu-Natal leadership will attend the uMngeni council’s inaugural meeting for the 2026-2031 term on Friday.
The meeting will be attended by provincial leader Sithembiso Ngema, provincial chairperson Dean Macpherson and members of the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC).
The DA says it retained uMngeni with an increased majority. Support increased from 48% in 2021 to over 60% in 2026. The party says it also wrestled five wards from the ANC, giving it 10 out of 13 wards and 15 out of 25 council seats.
KZN’s Coalition Landscape: Only 10 outright wins, 34 hung councils
Out of the province’s 44 councils, only 10 produced an outright winner, while 34 are hung with no party over 50%.
The IFP won the most councils outright in KZN, with five: uMsinga, Nongoma, Ulundi, Mthonjaneni and Nkandla.
The MK Party won outright control of three municipalities: Impendle, Richmond and the Johannes Phumani Phungula Municipality in Ixopo, while the ANC secured an outright majority in Greater Kokstad, and the DA retained outright control of uMngeni.
That leaves the rest of the province, including big councils like eThekwini and Msunduzi, facing coalition talks.
In the provincial vote, the MK Party emerged as the biggest party with 34,4% of the vote, followed by the ANC with 20,3% and the IFP with 20,1% and the DA with 14,2%.
Despite leading the provincial vote, the MK Party controls only three councils outright.
Today’s inauguration in uMngeni will therefore be one of the few in KZN where a single party can govern without needing a coalition partner
