The King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality council consists of seventy-three members elected by mixed-member proportional representation.
Thirty-seven councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in thirty-seven wards, while the remaining thirty-six 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 1 November 2021 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of forty-eight seats.
[6] In ward seven, a by-election was held in October 2022 after the death of the previous councillor, with the African National Congress retaining its seat.
Turnout was an exceptionally low 17%, with only 3% of registered voters in the Mthatha City district voting.