Abaqulusi Local Municipality

Abaqulusi
Local municipality
Seal
Location of Abaqulusi Local Municipality within KwaZulu-Natal Location of Abaqulusi Local Municipality within KwaZulu-Natal
Coordinates:
Country	South Africa
Province	KwaZulu-Natal
District	Zululand
Seat	Vryheid
Wards	22
Government
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	G.M. Dlamini (IFP)
Area
• Total	4,185 km2 (1,616 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	211,060
• Density	50/km2 (130/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	95.4%
• Coloured	0.5%
• Indian/Asian	0.4%
• White	3.5%
First languages (2011)
• Zulu	91.2%
• Afrikaans	3.0%
• English	2.5%
• Southern Ndebele	1.0%
• Other	2.3%
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)
Municipal code	KZN263

AbaQulusi Local Municipality is a local municipality in Zululand in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It is named after the AbaQulusi, a Zulu clan whose descendants live in the vicinities of Vryheid, Utrecht, eDumbe and eNgoje. They hailed from different origins but were unified by their allegiance to local Zulu royal homesteads. Historically they were not drafted into ordinary "amabutho" regiments but rather into a royal section, and no "umnumzane" chief presented them in the Zulu king's council.

Towns and settlements

63% of the population of the AbaQulusi municipal area live in rural areas, most of which live in scattered homesteads known as imizi in tribal areas. Homesteads are of a mixed nature, including both modern dwellings and traditional thatched huts. The remainder of the population lives as tenants on farm or in towns, dormitory townships and shacks in the settlements around towns.

Vryheid is Zululand's main commercial, industrial and business centre, with a reasonably well-developed physical, social and institutional infrastructure. It is located at the intersection of the major transport routes (R34 and R69) that traverse the region.

Other towns and settlements within the municipal boundaries include: Alpha, Calvert, Emondlo, Esigodini, Gluckstadt, Hlobane, Kandaspunt, Lenjanedrif, Louwsburg, Ngobeni, Ngome, Scheepersnek, Steilrand, Stilwater, Swart Umfolozi, Thakazele, and Zungwini.

The main nodal points of the AbaQulusi Municipal area are:

• Vryheid with its central business district and surrounding residential area, together with its former black township Bhekuzulu;
• Louwsburg, an independent settlement area some 67 km northeast of Vryheid and at the entrance to the Ithala Game Reserve;
• Hlobane and Coronation, which have become ghost towns due to decline of the coal mining, and other similar settlements 25 km to the east of Vryheid;
• eMondlo and the surrounding Tribal Area of Hlahlindlela southwest of Vryheid;
• Khambi Tribal Area and surrounding settlements in the southeastern part of the Municipal area;
• Glückstadt and surrounding settlements in the southern part of the Municipal area;
• Boschhoek and surrounding settlements in the central part of the Municipal area;
• and a number of rural settlement areas around Brakfontein between eMondlo and Vryheid in the western part of the Municipal area.

Economy

Currently the agricultural sector provides the highest proportion of the Gross Geographic Product (GGP) of the AbaQulusi area, even though the area is classified as having low agricultural potential. According to a land potential analysis of the area, only 15% of agricultural land can be described as having high agricultural potential. There is extensive, but not intensive agriculture. Very few farms are irrigated.

Products produced are timber, field crops and livestock. Current products farmed include maize, groundnuts, soya beans, sunflowers, fruits and sorghum.

Coal mining historically provided a major force in the local economy of Northern KwaZulu Natal. However, over the past 15 years a number of mines in the area ceased operation, negatively impacting the regional economy. The AbaQulusi Municipality was particularly affected by the closure of the Coronation, Mnyathi, and Hlobane mines in 1997 and 1998. Recently, the coal mining sector seems to have regained some momentum and it is coming back to dominate the economic sector.

Manufacturing in the municipal area includes food and beverages, clothing and textiles, leather products, paper and paper products, printing and publishing, metal products, machinery and equipment.

Wetlands of national importance abound in the district, with Blood River Vlei being the most important. Over 370 species of birds and many animals, reptiles, insects, amphibians and plants can be seen here, creating a significant potential for ecotourism in the area.

Politics

The municipal council consists of forty-four 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-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 18 May 2011 no party obtained a majority, and the African National Congress (ANC) and the National Freedom Party (NFP) formed a coalition to govern the municipality. The following table shows the results of the election.

Party		Votes				Seats
		Ward	List	Total	%	Ward	List	Total
	African National Congress	19,082	19,506	38,588	38.5	10	7	17
	Inkatha Freedom Party	17,639	17,434	35,073	35.0	10	6	16
	National Freedom Party	8,153	8,231	16,384	16.4	0	7	7
	Democratic Alliance	3,181	3,484	6,665	6.7	2	1	3
	Owethu Residents Organisation	1,187	957	2,144	2.1	0	1	1
	Freedom Front Plus	439	153	592	0.6	0	0	0
	African Christian Democratic Party	291	240	531	0.5	0	0	0
	Independent	103	–	103	0.1	0	–	0
	Royal Loyal Progress	12	77	89	0.1	0	0	0
Total		50,087	50,082	100,169	100.0	22	22	44
Spoilt votes		825	770	1,595

Challenges

The number of individuals infected with HIV/AIDS continues to be a major challenge. HIV/AIDS infections in Abaqulusi grew from 3.97% in 1995 to 19% in 2007. There was a substantial increase (49.89%) in deaths that were due to HIV/AIDS between 1995 and 2007. In 1995, 160 deaths were due to HIV/AIDS and in 2007 there were 2383 HIV/AIDS deaths. Thus in 2007, 41.13% of all reported deaths were due to HIV/AIDS (Abaqulusi Municipality LED Sector Plan, 2009). The HIV and AIDS prevalence rate for the KwaZulu-Natal province as a whole is estimated at 39%. As a result, without proper nutrition, health care and medicine that is available in developed countries, large numbers of people suffer and die from AIDS-related complications. In some areas, the epidemic has left behind many orphans cared for by elderly grandparents. HIV/AIDS also severely retards economic growth by destroying human capital.

Education levels in the area are very low, with 22% of the population having no formal education. 60.15% of the population has some form of primary or secondary education, but only 2.54% have had any further education. Consequently, one of the key challenges facing AbaQulusi Municipality is a relatively high rate of functional illiteracy. This has a significant impact on employability, the type of job opportunities that can be sought and the vocational distribution of the economically active population. The urban centres within AbaQulusi present a slightly better picture with regard to education levels, but generally the skills base remains low.

Main places

The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:

Place	Code	Area (km2)	Population
Bhekuzulu	52902	3.67	20,336
Coronation	52903	3.02	2,430
eMondlo	52904	5.78	22,085
Enyati Anthracide Mine	52905	2.60	879
Hlahlindlela	52906	265.13	59,601
Hlobane	52907	24.17	6,042
Kandas Prison	52908	1.08	1,860
Khambi	52909	194.23	1,693
Louwsburg	52910	12.70	3,117
Ndebele	52911	4.49	516
Ngotshe	52912	183.77	1,433
Vryheid	52913	16.74	15,021
Vulindlela	52914	16.12	2,366
Zulu/Khambi	52915	60.70	6,261
Remainder of the municipality	52901	3,389.45	47,386

External links

• Abaqulusi Municipality Official Website