The Ngwathe Local Municipality council (within the South African Fezile Dabi District Municipality) consists of thirty-seven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation.
Nineteen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in nineteen wards, while the remaining eighteen 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 3 August 2016 the African National Congress (ANC) won a majority of twenty-four seats on the council.
In the election of 1 November 2021 the ANC won a reduced majority of twenty-one seats.
[5] The following by-elections were held to fill vacant ward seats in the period since November 2021.