Voting on 4 November

South Africa's local government elections are on Wednesday 4 November 2026. Voting stations (Voting station The place where you vote, often a school or a hall. You can only vote at the one where you are registered.) are open from 07:00 to 21:00.

4 November is a public holiday, so that people can vote. Special votes (Special vote An early vote on 2 or 3 November, for people who applied in time. Applications are closed.) are on 2 and 3 November, only for people whose application was approved.

Only if your special vote application was approved. Special votes are on 2 and 3 November 2026. Applications are closed.

No. Registration for this election is closed.

The voters' roll (Voters' roll The official list of everyone who can vote, and where each person votes.) closed at midnight on 7 August 2026. No one can register or change their address for this election.

Only at the voting station where you are registered (Registered Your name is on the voters' roll. Registration for this election closed on 7 August 2026.).

You cannot vote at another station on election day, even if you travel. If you moved after you registered, you still vote at your old station.

The IEC (IEC The Electoral Commission of South Africa. It runs elections. It is independent, so it does not take orders from the government or any party.) publishes every candidate list. See your ward (Ward A small area inside a municipality. Each one elects one councillor.) and council (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.) papers on Your ballot (Ballot paper The paper you mark with an X to vote. You get 2 in a metro and 3 everywhere else.).

Use your 13-digit ID number. The reply tells you your voting station and your voters' roll number.

• Enter it on the IEC website
• SMS it to 32810 (R1 per SMS)
• Send it on WhatsApp to 0600 88 0000
• Call the IEC on 0800 11 8000

One of these ID documents:

• A green barcoded ID book
• A smart ID card
• A valid temporary identity certificate from Home Affairs

Not a passport or driver's licence.

Replace it as soon as you can, at a Home Affairs office or a taking-part bank branch. You must show a valid ID to vote.

There are five steps, in this order:

1. An official checks and scans your ID.
2. Officials find your name on the voters' roll and cross it off.
3. They ink your left thumbnail and give you your ballot papers. Check that each one has a stamp on the back.
4. You mark each ballot alone in a booth. Make only one clear mark on each one.
5. You fold each ballot and put it in the ballot box.

No photos of your marked ballot.

Made a mistake? Ask the presiding officer (Presiding officer The official in charge of a voting station. Ask them if you need help or make a mistake.) for a new ballot before it goes in the box.

Yes. If you have a disability, you can bring a helper you choose.

• Your helper must be 18 or older.
• Your helper can't be a party (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) agent or a candidate.
• Or ask the presiding officer for help. This is also for voters who can't read.

The IEC has a Braille template that fits over the ballot. With it, blind and partly sighted voters can mark their ballot alone.

Votes are counted at the voting station (Voting station The place where you vote, often a school or a hall. You can only vote at the one where you are registered.).

Voting closes at 21:00.

Within 7 days, by law. The IEC (IEC The Electoral Commission of South Africa. It runs elections. It is independent, so it does not take orders from the government or any party.) announces them.

The IEC shares results as they come in, on its results website and app.

On the day the IEC announces the results.

The new councillors (Councillor A person elected to make decisions for a municipality, such as the budget and who the mayor is. Each one holds one seat.), within 14 days. Not the voters.

They vote in secret. To win, a person needs more than half the votes.

Then no party (Party A group of people who stand for election together, with shared plans.) can choose the mayor (Mayor The leader of the municipality. Councillors choose this person, not voters. So the seats each party wins decide who can lead.) alone. It needs votes from councillors of other parties.

Parties that agree to run a council (Council The group of elected people who make decisions for a municipality. They pass its budget and choose the mayor.) together are called a coalition (Coalition Parties that agree to run a council together, usually because none has more than half the seats alone. Together they choose the mayor.).

Up to five years. So the council you vote for runs your area until the next local elections.

257 councils, 10 526 seats (Seat A place on the council, held by one councillor. A party with more votes gets more of these places.) and 4 488 wards (Ward A small area inside a municipality. Each one elects one councillor.).

8 metros (Metro A big city with one council for the whole city, such as Johannesburg or Cape Town. There are 8. Voters there get 2 ballot papers.), 44 districts and 205 local councils (Local municipality A municipality for a town or rural area outside the metros. There are 205.). 20 more wards than in 2021.

The ward count is the Municipal Demarcation Board's from December 2025. The KwaZulu-Natal wards that were in court are now final.