Ntambanana Municipality is one of the six local municipalities under uThungulu District. The municipality is embraced with meandering valleys which house numerous rivers flowing either towards the Umfolozi River in the North or the uMhlathuze River to the South. The municipality covers an area of 1083km2 and has a population of 94 194 people as per 2007 community survey.

There are four Traditional Authorities that fall within the jurisdiction of Ntambanana Municipality, which are: Obizo, Obuka, Somopho and Mambuka Traditional Authorities. 85% of land in the municipal area of jurisdiction belongs to Ingonyama Trust and 15% of the land is privately owned by commercial farmers. Ntambanana Municipality is rated as the poorest municipality in DC 28; because of its dependency on equitable share and other government grants, however the Implementation of the property rates act has set a base in revenue collection since the municipality was able to collect rates from farmers as from 2007/8 financial year.

The municipal area is divided into eight wards that are represented by eight councilors and therefore having 80 ward committee members. The area around Heatonville is primarily in private ownership, and utilized for commercial sugar cane farming and other agricultural enterprises. There are a number of rural nodes which serve as service centres notably Buchanana, Mambuka, Luwamba and Heatonville, but these centres need to be expanded in terms of social, economical and educational service delivery, together with the upgrading of the physical infrastructure.

From a tourism perspective Ntambanana has good potential. Thula Thula Game Reserve, near Buchanana, is already world renowned. Other similar activities, albeit it to a lesser extent, are also in operation. The R34, running from Empangeni to Melmoth, offers opportunities for commercial activities in need of good exposure and access, and again some possibilities are being investigated. Road P700 cuts across Ntambanana area of jurisdiction. The Ulundi to Richards Bay corridor can result in economic growth for Ntambanana because of its character as development corridor. The topography of Ntambanana is characterized by slopes and hills which pose a challenge for accessibility and speedy delivery of basic services. This situation is exacerbated by the scattered & unplanned nature of settlementsettings, however with the implementation of the Land Use Management system, progress has been made to correct the mistakes of the past

DEMOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW

Population Size 

In terms of the Community survey conducted in 2007 the population of Ntambanana municipality increased BY 10% from 85 772 to 94 194, however according to the Global insight’s 2010 figures, the population has decreased by 2% from 2007. This may be as a result of many factors such as the

migration of farmers, high dearth rates due to HIV/AIDS and other diseases, people relocating to areas which are more developed and with less disaster occurrences, such as uMhlathuze.

The population size as such is not very high but of significance is relatively high average household size which is worsen by the low level of services enjoyed in

the area.  

The table below shows the change in the population over the past 13 year