South Africa Local Elections 2026: Date, Parties and Metros

SOUTH AFRICA · ELECTIONS 2026 · GUIDE

Updated 30 October 2026

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South Africa holds its local government elections on Wednesday 4 November 2026, five days from today, Friday 30 October, with polls open from 07:00 to 21:00 South African time, which is midnight to 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in the US. Voters choose 10,526 council seats in all 257 municipalities from 136,790 certified candidates, and the Presidency has declared election day a public holiday.

What Is on the Ballot

South Africa has 257 municipalities: 8 metropolitan councils in the biggest cities, 44 district councils and 205 local councils. The Municipal Demarcation Board, the body that draws local boundaries, has set 4,488 wards for this vote, and voters elect ward councillors by name and the other councillors from party lists.

The IEC has confirmed that a record 136,790 candidates qualified to contest 10,526 seats, against 95,427 candidates for 10,478 seats in 2021. Of the total, 621 are independents and 5,096 others were disqualified, mostly over unpaid deposits and missing nomination papers, as set out in the Rio Times report on the final candidate field.

Voters in the metros receive two ballots, one for a ward councillor and one for a party, while voters in areas under a district council receive a third ballot for that council. In the biggest cities the party ballot needs two columns, with 75 parties in Johannesburg, 70 in Tshwane (Pretoria), 69 in eThekwini (Durban) and 67 in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg.

As of 14 October the IEC had secured 23,696 voting stations, including 22,659 permanent ones, and printing of about 79 million ballot papers was due to finish on Sunday 18 October. About 188,500 electoral officials were being recruited as of that date.

Voting Hours, ID and Special Votes

Ordinary voting runs from 07:00 to 21:00 South African time on Wednesday 4 November, which is midnight to 2 p.m. EST, because US clocks go back on Sunday 1 November while South Africa stays on UTC+2 all year. Special votes for people who cannot reach a station on the day are cast on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 November from 08:00 to 17:00, which is 1 a.m. to 10 a.m. EST.

A record 2,655,067 special-vote applications were approved, up 131% from 1,147,759 in 2021, including 678,525 home visits and 1,976,542 voting-station requests. Home Affairs, the ministry that issues identity documents, keeps its offices open from 08:00 to 18:00 on 2 and 3 November and from 07:00 to 21:00 on election day.

Voters must show a green bar-coded ID book, a smart ID card or a temporary identity certificate, and they can vote only at the voting station where they are registered. The roll closed with the proclamation on Friday 7 August, so nobody can register now, but voters can check their station by SMS to 32810 at R1 (US$0.06, at the central bank rate of R16.64 per US$1 on 30 October) or by WhatsApp to 0600 88 0000.

The Parties, Explained

The African National Congress (ANC) lost its national majority in the 2024 election and now shares power in a national unity government, as the Rio Times guide to who holds power in South Africa explains. Local councils follow no single pattern, and in 2021 the IEC declared 66 of 213 councils hung, meaning that no party won a majority.

The Metros to Watch

The eight metros are the biggest cities, and in 2021 no party won more than 50% of the vote in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini or Nelson Mandela Bay. The lines below give the sitting mayor, the 2021 result and the Ipsos survey of June and July, whose small metro samples carry wide margins of error.

• Johannesburg: Executive Mayor Dada Morero of the ANC leads a coalition council. 2021: ANC 33.6%, DA 26.5%, ActionSA 16.1%. Ipsos: ANC 31%, DA 28%, ActionSA 14%.
• Tshwane (Pretoria): ActionSA Mayor Nasiphi Moya leads a coalition. 2021: ANC 34.3%, DA 32.3%, EFF 10.6%. Ipsos: DA 31%, ANC 22%, ActionSA 11%.
• Ekurhuleni (East Rand): Executive Mayor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza of the ANC, in office since April 2024. 2021: ANC 38.2%, DA 28.7%, EFF 13.6%. Ipsos: ANC 24%, DA 21%, MK 18%, ActionSA 13%.
• eThekwini (Durban): Mayor Cyril Xaba of the ANC. 2021: ANC 42.0%, DA 25.6%, EFF 10.5%. Ipsos: MK 55%, DA 17%, ANC 10%.
• Cape Town: DA-run, with Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis in office since November 2021. 2021: DA 58.2%, ANC 18.6%. Ipsos: DA 46%, ANC 26%.
• Nelson Mandela Bay (Gqeberha): Mayor Babalwa Lobishe of the ANC leads a coalition. 2021: DA 39.9%, ANC 39.4%, EFF 6.4%. Ipsos: ANC 37%, DA 37% (small sample).
• Buffalo City (East London): ANC-run. 2021: ANC 59.3%, DA 19.5%, EFF 12.1%. Ipsos: DA 33%, ANC 29%, EFF 27% (small sample).
• Mangaung (Bloemfontein): Mayor Gregory Nthatisi of the ANC. 2021: ANC 50.6%, DA 25.7%, EFF 11.3%. Ipsos: DA 36%, ANC 32%, EFF 17% (small sample).

Johannesburg is the prize that investors know best, and the DA has named Helen Zille, a former Cape Town mayor and Western Cape premier, as its mayoral candidate there, while ActionSA, founded by former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, also contests the city. Voters elect councillors, not mayors, so the winning bloc of councillors chooses the mayor after the count.

What the Polls Say

Ipsos, a global polling firm, interviewed 3,600 South Africans in their homes in June and July and published its metro results on 4 September, with the DA ahead in Tshwane and Cape Town and the MK Party on 55% in eThekwini. Among registered voters who named a party it found the ANC at 31%, the DA at 25%, the MK Party at 14% and the EFF at 11% nationally, and it stressed that the figures are not a prediction.

MarkData, a South African research firm, published a Johannesburg survey on 18 October with the DA at 35.0%, the ANC at 21.8%, the MK Party at 12.5%, the EFF at 11.9% and ActionSA at 10.3%, from about 1,000 respondents and a margin of error of about 3 points. Its Cape Town survey had the DA at 52.6% and the ANC at 23.6%.

Pollsters differ on field dates, samples and methods, and most polls were taken before the final candidate lists were published, so they are snapshots, not forecasts. In Johannesburg no poll puts any party near 50%, so a coalition is the likely route to the mayor’s chair.

What Prediction Markets Say

At 5:18 a.m. ET on 30 October 2026, Polymarket, an online prediction exchange, priced Helen Zille of the DA at 57.5% to become Johannesburg’s next mayor, with US$136,124 traded on the market. The next-highest candidate was priced at 15.1%, and ActionSA founder Herman Mashaba at 6.4%.

The market resolves to whoever the council elects mayor after the vote, so these prices are bets on coalition deals, not polls. Kalshi, a US exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), lists a smaller market of about 13,600 contracts that also priced Zille at 58%.

Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.

The ANC’s Missing Candidates

The IEC had excluded 181 ANC candidates in six municipalities because the party had not submitted its final candidate lists by the 5 p.m. deadline on Friday 28 August, even though the candidates were nominated and the deposits paid. On Thursday 15 October the Constitutional Court, the highest court on constitutional matters, ordered the IEC to put them back, and the IEC accepted the ruling, as the Rio Times report on the court ruling describes.

The 181 candidates include 51 ward candidates and 130 party-list candidates, and on Friday 16 October the IEC extended the same relief to 32 other parties that had planned to contest 121 municipalities. The IEC described the decision as a matter of equal treatment for parties in the same position.

How Results Are Announced

Votes are counted at each voting station after polls close at 21:00 on Wednesday 4 November, which is 2 p.m. EST, and the IEC results dashboard updates every 5 to 10 minutes once all stations have closed. The National Results Operation Centre, where the IEC checks and consolidates the count, is at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand between Johannesburg and Pretoria and was launched on 28 October, with nine provincial centres feeding into it, as the Rio Times report on the results centre explains.

By law the IEC must declare results within seven days of the vote, which means by Wednesday 11 November, unless the Electoral Court, which hears election disputes, grants more time. In 2021 voting took place on Monday 1 November and the IEC announced final results on the evening of Thursday 4 November, three days later.

Live results appear on the IEC results portal at results.elections.org.za, which US readers can open from any browser. Early projections are not official results, because only the IEC declares the final outcome, and coalition talks after the count may decide many mayors.

What It Means for You

Local councils run water, electricity distribution, refuse collection and local roads, so US investors and companies with South African operations watch Johannesburg, Tshwane and Cape Town for stable majorities and clean budgets. The vote elects councils, not the national government, so it does not change who governs in Pretoria.

US readers can follow the vote overnight and on Wednesday: polls open at midnight EST and close at 2 p.m. EST, the count follows through the afternoon and evening, and the IEC portal shows results as they come in. South Africa is seven hours ahead of US Eastern Standard Time from Sunday 1 November, after being six hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time until then.

The US State Department rates South Africa Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution, citing crime, kidnapping, terrorism and protests that can start suddenly and turn violent. Election day is a public holiday throughout the country, so travelers should expect closures, crowds near voting stations and possible transport disruption.

President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed 510 soldiers to KwaZulu-Natal from 9 October to 30 November to support the police after violence linked to misinformation about a Constitutional Court judgment on refugees. A candidate of the South African Communist Party, Ernest Fipaza, 63, was shot dead at his home in Dutywa, Eastern Cape, on Friday 23 October, and police are investigating murder and house robbery.

South Africans abroad cannot vote in municipal elections, because by law they can vote only in national elections. Foreign residents cannot vote either, because the roll is open only to South African citizens.

Social grant payment dates around the holiday are set out in the Rio Times guide to SASSA grant payment dates for November 2026. SASSA is the South African Social Security Agency, the state body that pays monthly grants.

What Is Not Known

Nobody knows yet how many councils will end up hung or which coalitions will form, because the polls were taken weeks ago and only the count on 4 November will show the real split. Turnout is also unknown, although about 12.3 million of 26.1 million registered voters took part in 2021.

It is not known how long the final declaration will take, because the IEC has seven days and can ask the Electoral Court for more time. Polls for Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City and Mangaung rest on small samples, so the real standing of the parties in those metros is uncertain.

More: South Africa news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

Frequently Asked Questions

When are the 2026 local elections in South Africa?

The local government elections are on Wednesday 4 November 2026, which President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a public holiday. Special votes for people who cannot reach a station are cast on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 November.

What time do South Africa’s polls open in US Eastern time?

Polls open at 07:00 South African time on 4 November, which is midnight EST, and close at 21:00, which is 2 p.m. EST. Special voting on 2 and 3 November runs from 1 a.m. to 10 a.m. EST.

What ID do I need to vote in South Africa?

Voters need a green bar-coded ID book, a smart ID card or a temporary identity certificate. They can vote only at the station where they are registered, and the voters’ roll closed on 7 August.

Can South Africans abroad or foreign residents vote?

No, South Africans abroad can vote only in national elections, not municipal ones. Foreign residents cannot vote because the voters’ roll is open only to South African citizens.

When will the local election results be announced?

The Electoral Commission must declare results within seven days, which means by Wednesday 11 November. In 2021 it announced final results on Thursday 4 November, three days after the vote.

Who is ahead in the polls for Johannesburg?

MarkData’s survey of 18 October had the DA at 35.0% and the ANC at 21.8%, while Ipsos in September had the ANC at 31% and the DA at 28%. Polls are snapshots, and no party is near a majority.

Sources: Electoral Commission, 2026 election timetable; Electoral Commission, 136,790 candidates certified; Electoral Commission, final wards handover; Electoral Commission readiness update, 14 October 2026; Electoral Commission, voters’ roll above 29 million, 3 August 2026; Electoral Commission on the Constitutional Court ruling, 15 October 2026; Electoral Commission, same relief for 32 parties, 16 October 2026; Electoral Commission, how to vote; Electoral Commission, who can register; Electoral Commission, voting abroad; Electoral Commission results portal; Electoral Commission chairperson, final 2021 results; Electoral Commission, 2021 announcement time; Municipal Electoral Act, section 64; The Presidency, public holiday on 4 November; Department of Home Affairs, extended hours; The Presidency, deployment to KwaZulu-Natal; Eastern Cape government, killing of a candidate; Ipsos, 4 September 2026; City of Johannesburg, 29 October 2026; City of Cape Town, 2 October 2026; City of Ekurhuleni, mayor’s profile; Democratic Alliance, Cape Town statement, October 2026; US State Department, South Africa travel advisory; South African Reserve Bank, rand per US dollar, 30 October 2026. Poll figures are as published by MarkData on 18 October 2026. Prediction-market prices were read on 30 October at 5:18 a.m. ET. Accessed 30 October 2026.