uMzinyathi is one of the 11 district municipalities ("districts") of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. The seat of uMzinyathi is Dundee. The majority of its 456 452 people speak IsiZulu (2001 Census). The district code is DC24
Umzinyathi is surrounded by:
The district contains the following local municipalities:
The following statistics are from the 2001 census.
Election results for Umzinyathi in the South African general election, 2004.
A district municipality is a designation for a class of municipalities found in several locations, including Canada, Lithuania, and South Africa.
Under provincial law, municipalities are to be designated "district municipalities" on incorporation if the area to be incorporated is greater than 800 hectares (8 km²) and has an average population density of less than 5 persons per hectare (500 persons per km²). Municipalities may be incorporated under different classifications under the direction of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, as is the case with the District of North Vancouver.
Currently, only one District Municipality exists, Muskoka District Municipality, Ontario. It was formerly a District, but has undergone heavy urbanization and development, particularly from tourism, as it is the heart of Ontario's cottage country. As a result, it was "upgraded" from a District (such as neighbouring Parry Sound District) to having powers similar to a Regional Municipality, such as York Regional Municipality.
In South Africa, a district municipality or Category C municipality is a municipality which executes some of the functions of local government for a district. The district municipality will in turn comprise several local municipalities, with which it shares the functions of local government. District municipalities are seen as successors to former Regional Services Councils (RSC).
The Constitution, section 155.1.a, defines "Category C" municipalities. The Municipal Structures Act states that areas not eligible to have a metropolitan municipality must have a district municipality.
District municipalities have a municipality code that consists of the letters "DC" followed by a number from 1 to 48. The "DC" reflects the fact that they were originally named "District Councils".
Currently all district municipalities are completely divided into local municipalities. However, before the alteration of municipal boundaries which occurred at the 2011 elections, some areas of the country did not fall within any local municipality. This usually occurred in areas with a very low population density, for example national parks and nature reserves. In these areas, which were known as District Management Areas, all local government services were provided by the district municipality.