South Africa’s local government elections will be held between Nov. 2, 2026, and the end of January 2027, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced Tuesday.
IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo told a media briefing in Pretoria, the country’s administrative capital, that the five-year term of councillors elected in 2021 will expire on Nov. 2 next year.
He said Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa holds the authority, after consulting with the IEC, to set a date and call an election, and discussions on the matter are already underway.
Mamabolo said that 34 new political parties have been registered since the 2024 general election, including 13 since July, bringing the total to 472. Of these, 287 are registered nationally and 185 at provincial, district, or municipal levels.
He also urged citizens to participate in ongoing public discussions on the feasibility of electronic voting, while stressing that physical ballot papers will continue to be used in the upcoming municipal elections, given the absence of a national policy and legal framework for e-voting.
South Africa last held local government elections on Nov. 1, 2021, which resulted in hung councils in most of the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
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