Nquthu is an isiZulu word meaning "the back of the head".

[4] Isandlwana is the site of a historic Anglo-Zulu War battle that took place on 22 January 1879, and is a well known tourist destination worldwide.

[5] The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places:[6] The municipal council consists of thirty-seven members elected by mixed-member proportional representation.

Seventeen councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting in seventeen wards, while the remaining sixteen 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 Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) won a majority of nineteen seats.