South Africans voted in municipal elections on Wednesday, November 4, in a nationwide test of public confidence in local government and the African National Congress after a series of electoral setbacks for the governing party.
The 2026 Local Government Elections gave voters the opportunity to elect councillors who will serve in municipalities across the country. Those representatives will choose mayors and form administrations responsible for essential local services, including water, sanitation and waste collection.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa reported a certified voters’ roll of 29.2 million people and established 23,696 voting stations nationwide. Polling places were scheduled to operate from 7:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. local time, giving voters 14 hours to cast their ballots.
The commission said 98% of voting stations had opened by 7:00 a.m. and that all were operating by 9:00 a.m. Delays at some locations were linked to localized protests and weather-related access difficulties in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
The ballot came amid widespread concern about the quality and reliability of municipal services. Campaign issues included interruptions to water and electricity supplies, deteriorating roads, failing sewage systems and shortcomings in waste management. Persistent inequality and unemployment above 30% also shaped the political environment as parties sought support from voters dissatisfied with conditions in their communities.
Although the election concerned local councils, it represented a significant political test for the ANC. The party fell below 50% of the nationwide vote in the 2021 municipal elections, weakening its position in local government. It suffered another major setback in the May 29, 2024 general election, when it lost its national parliamentary majority.
Wednesday’s vote therefore provided a new measure of whether the ANC could stabilize its support or face further losses. Municipal elections directly connect political parties with the delivery of everyday services, making the state of roads, water networks, sanitation systems and electricity supplies central to voters’ decisions.
President Cyril Ramaphosa cast his ballot in Johannesburg. After voting, he pointed to the number of political parties contesting the election as a defining feature of the campaign. “My view is that we’ve never really, in years, had a local government election like this, where we have so many parties,” he told the Associated Press.
The crowded contest underscored the pressure on established parties to persuade voters that they could improve municipal administration. For the ANC, the election carried particular weight because its long-standing dominance had already been challenged in consecutive national and local votes.
The councillors elected on Wednesday will play a decisive role in determining who governs each municipality. By selecting mayors and forming local administrations, they will oversee institutions responsible for services that affect residents daily, from household water and sanitation to refuse removal and the maintenance of local infrastructure.
With polling scheduled to end at 9:00 p.m., the election brought the country’s debates over governance, unemployment and inequality to the municipal level. The eventual outcome was set to show how voters assessed the parties responsible for local services and whether the ANC’s recent electoral decline would continue.
