Ramaphosa announces Local Government Elections date
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the 2026 Local Government Elections will be held on Wednesday, 4 November 2026.
This means political parties have just over six months to campaign for mayors and ward councillors.
Ramaphosa made the announcement on Wednesday at the Extended Presidential Coordinating Council Meeting in Boksburg.
"The people of South Africa will determine how they want to vote and who they want to vote for. All we have to do is to respect the will of our people," he told reporters
Ramaphosa hinted that his party, the African National Congress (ANC), would 'collaborate' with other parties where the ANC does not obtain an outright majority.
In the 2021 local government elections, the ANC received 46% of the vote as the party's support dwindled, losing its majority in the country's key metros: Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, and Nelson Mandela Bay.
The party's support also took another dip in the 2024 General Elections, where it lost its majority in Parliament for the first time, making way for the formation of the Government of National Unity through coalition.
"All of us will want, of course, our parties to win, and if they don't win, we continue working together in the most beautiful way, the South African special way," said Ramaphosa.
"Once our people have decided, we abide, and we continue serving them. So that is where this cooperative and collaborative nature of our politics comes in," he added
Ramaphosa also called on the public to register to vote in the upcoming voter registration drive, with the next national voter registration weekend scheduled for 20 June and 21 June 2026.
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