Umkhanyakude District Municipality

uMkhanyakude North Uthungulu
District municipality
Seal
Location in South Africa
Country	South Africa
Province	KwaZulu-Natal
Seat	Mkuze[1]
Local municipalities	List uMhlabuyalingana Jozini Big Five False Bay Hlabisa Mtubatuba
Government [2]
• Type	Municipal council
• Mayor	Cllr.Solomon Mkhombo
Area
• Total	12,821 km2 (4,950 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[3]
• Total	625,846
• Density	49/km2 (130/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [3]
• Black African	98.8%
• Coloured	0.2%
• Indian/Asian	0.2%
• White	0.7%
First languages (2011) [3]
• Zulu	94.6%
• English	1.7%
• Southern Ndebele	1.2%
• Other	2.5%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Municipal code	DC27

The uMkhanyakude District Municipality (Zulu: UMasipala wesiFunda sase uMkhanyakude) is the northernmost of the 11 districts of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Its seat is Mkuze. It is a very rural district, the largest town being Mtubatuba in the south, with Hluhluwe, Mkuze, Jozini, Kwangwanase and Ingwavuma further to the north. The majority of its 573,353 inhabitants spoke isiZulu as of 2001. The district code is DC27.

The municipality is named after the yellow-barked fever tree, literally meaning "seen from afar" in isiZulu. It contains many areas of outstanding natural beauty such as the St Lucia greater wetland park, Sodwana Bay and Kosi Bay. Game parks include Hluhluwe–iMfolozi, Ndumu and Tembe Elephant Park.

It is one of the two most deprived districts in South Africa according to the District Health Barometer, in terms of unemployment rates, access to piped water and electricity, female-headed households with high numbers of children and low education levels.