The Ubuhlebezwe Municipality (KZ5a5) is located within the Harry Gwala District Municipality (DC43). The main administrative centre of the Municipality is the town of Ixopo, which is located approximately 85km south east of Pietermaritzburg, capital of KwaZulu-Natal, and is strategically located at the intersection of four major provincial routes leading to Pietermaritzburg, the Drakensberg, the Eastern Cape and the South Coast.

The town of Ixopo forms the primary development node of the Municipality and has also been selected as the seat of the Harry Gwala District Council. The importance of Ixopo cannot be underestimated in the socio-economic development of the area as a whole. Ixopo plays an important role in terms of the possible location for industry, commerce and other economic activity. It is a major education and health centre and assists in the diffusion of new ideas and technologies to the rural areas. It is also the primary base for the operation of many departments and service providers.In line with the KwaZulu-Natal Integrated Rural Development Policy a number of secondary development nodes have been identified.

The intention of secondary development nodes is to identify well-located settlements where government and municipal services, administrative functions and commercial and residential development will be encouraged to locate in the future. The secondary and tertiary development nodes identified are: Highflats; Hlutankungu (Stuartsville); Jolivet; KwaBhidla; Emgodi and Hlokozi.

The preparation of the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) is intended to provide the municipality with strategic development plans for a five year period. The IDP is one of the key tools for assisting the municipality in coping with its new developmental role. It seeks to align issues such as municipal budgets, land management, promotion of local economic development, and institutional transformation in a consultative, systematic and strategic manner.The IDP attempts to redress past imbalances by meeting the basic needs of communities, particularly the most disadvantaged groups and those people living in the most underprivileged areas of the Municipality. The IDP also recognises that there is a need to promote economic growth through investment and strategic planning.

The purpose of key principles is to provide a guide to Council when making decisions.With these objectives in mind the Ubuhlebezwe Council identified the following vision and mission for the municipality.