The much-anticipated 2026 local government elections would be held between November 1 2026 and January 2027, the Chief Electoral Officer of the IEC has said.
Sy Mamabolo said the exact date will be announced by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Velenkosini Hlabisa, and it will then be gazetted.
Mamabolo made this announcement in Durban on Friday while outlining the roadmap of the elections to party representatives and the media.
CoGTA minister to decide date
“The date will be determined by the Minister of CoGTA, Minister Hlabisa. But that date can be between the beginning of November [2026] and the end of January [2027]. So, in that 90 day period the minister is at large, in consultation with the commission … to determine rather the election date,” he said.
He also told the gathering that the Municipal Demarcation Board will conclude all ward boundary adjustments by October this year. It will then give the commission enough time to prepare accordingly after evaluating the impact of the adjustments.
It was during the same gathering where Mamabolo issued a warning to the country. He said the country is heading for a situation where voters will have to go through a multi-layered ballot paper. This as the requirements to register a party and contest elections are easy to crack.
“We are going there if, as a country, we are not addressing the issue around the entry requirements. In the last session someone raised an issue about the signatures as an entry requirement.
“I honestly think the signatures are not an effective mechanism to deal with the issue. They are susceptible to fraud. And they are meaningless because a person can go to Mai Mai, sit there. As people move around, they can make them sign. South Africans will sign,” Mamabolo added.
