The President has proclaimed 4 November 2026 as the date for South Africa’s local government elections. Voters will elect councils for all metropolitan, district and local municipalities.
What is being elected
Every one of the country’s 257 municipal councils. In metropolitan and local municipalities you cast votes for a ward councillor and for a party list. In district municipalities, part of the council is elected directly and part is made up of representatives from the local municipalities within the district.
Wards have been redrawn
The Municipal Demarcation Board completed a ward delimitation process ahead of these elections. Ward boundaries in many municipalities differ from 2021, so the ward you voted in last time may not be the ward you vote in now.
What is at stake
The 2021 elections produced an unusually large number of hung councils, and coalition instability has been a feature of the term that followed. Whether that pattern repeats is the central question of this election.
Where the councils stand now
Every municipality profile on this site records the current council composition party by party, the governing party or coalition, and the mayor. These reflect the position going into the election, and will be updated as results are declared.
Figures on this page come from National Treasury, Statistics South Africa and the Auditor-General, as set out in the sources and methodology. Read the methodology