uMshwathi

uMshwathi Municipality is situated within uMgungundlovu District Municipality immediately adjacent to Pietermaritzburg. uMshwathi comprises of four major urban centres (New Hanover, Wartburg, Dalton and Cool Air) as well as the rural residential settlements of Swayimane, Mpolweni, Thokozani and Ozwathini. uMshwathi covers an area of about 1 811 km². Economic development opportunities at uMshwathi include the rehabilitation and development of the towns, middle and high-income housing projects as well as development of a road corridor linking the N2 and N3 by traversing the municipality.The importance of agriculture in uMshwathi cannot be overemphasized. Sugar cane is the predominant agricultural pursuit. Manufacturing activities are mainly related to agricultural processing activities, notably sugar and timber processing activities.read more »

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Emnambithi/Ladysmith

Emnambithi-Ladysmith Local Municipality forms part of the Uthukela District Municipality, with Ladysmith, Ezakheni, Steadville and Colenso/Nkanyezi as main urban areas. Ladysmith is the primary urban area, located along the N11 national route, 20 kilometres off the N3 national route. The priority development issues for Emnambithi-Ladysmith Local Municipality are physical infrastructure and services; social development and services; economic development; land reform, etc. Urban areas have far more services than rural ones but a much smaller population, indicating a clear imbalance in service provision. The Driefontein Complex has been identified as an area for priority spending. It has the highest population concentration but the lowest service standards.

(Source: http://www.ladysmith.co.za)

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Indaka

Indaka Municipality is a newly established municipality (established 18 December 2000), which is mainly rural. The municipality shares borders with Emnambithi, Endumeni, Msinga and Umtshezi municipalities and is situated 49 km east of Ladysmith.

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Okhahlamba

The Okhahlamba Local Municipality is situated in the mountainous region of KwaZulu-Natal between Lesotho, the Free State, Emnambithi and Mtshezi. This municipality derived its name from a range of mountains which stretches more than 400km. It consists of privately owned commercial farmlands, smallholder settlements, the urban areas of Bergville, Winterton, Cathkin Park and Geluksberg, and two tribal authority areas.read more »

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Imbabazane

Imbabazane Local Municipality is located at the foothills of the Central Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park (World Heritage Site), and is situated between Okhahlamba, Umtshezi and Mooi-Mpofana Municipalities. The majority of the population of Imbabazane Municipality resides in rural villages scattered throughout the municipal area, particularly in traditional authority areas.

Estcourt is the closest urban centre to Imbabazane, and serves as a regional shopping and service centre offering specialist services including medical, education and manufacturing.

Many of the government departments serving Imbabazane have regional offices located in Estcourt. Ladysmith is the main regional shopping and services centre and boasts a healthy industrial centre that continues to expand. Estcourt and Ladysmith are the main employment centres for Imbabazane.

Imbabazane does not have a well-defined settlement pattern, which along with poor municipal capacity has inhibited service delivery.

(Source: www.localgovernment.co.za)

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