South Africa is all set for its 2026 Local Government Elections LGE which will be taking place on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. The voting will start at 7:00 am and close at 9:00 pm.The special voting already started on Monday, November 2 and concluded on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
According to the Electoral Commission of South Africa ICE, a total 547 political parties are participating in the 2026 Local Government Elections. At the national level, 345 parties are registered of which only 227 parties nominated candidates to contest.
At the provincial level, 36 parties registered themselves and only 33 are participating in the elections. Meanwhile, at the municipal level, 61 parties are registered, of which 49 are contesting and at the district level, 290 parties registered, of which 237 are contesting in the election.
Moreover, for the 2026 election approximately 29.9 million individuals registered themselves for the voting. The Electoral Commission of South Africa also shared the glimpse of the first day of the Special voting on their official social media handle. The organization posted the glimpse of some provinces of the country including Western Cape and Free State.
Additionally, the Electoral Commission of South Africa held a media briefing on Monday, November 2, 2026 on the day one of the Special Voting. The media briefing was led by Sy Mamabolo, Chief Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission of South Africa. During the media briefing Mamabolo shared the updates on day one of the Special Voting. He shared that a total 780,000 people voted on the day one of the Special Voting.
Mamabolo stated, “The first day of Special voting concluded at 5pm on Monday and the commission is satisfied that the day’s proceedings create a solid basis for improved performance on day two of special votes and on election day. In fact, our very conservative estimate of the participation rate today is that 780,000 special votes have been administered”.
Notably, this year marks South Africa’s marked sixth Local Government Election since its democratic transition in 1994.