Ramaphosa sets local elections for 4 November
Local government elections will fall on a Wednesday, 4 November, which will be a public holiday to encourage voter participation
Black News 
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the local government elections will be held on Wednesday, 4 November 2026.
Ramaphosa announced the election date on Thursday at Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg during a meeting with leaders at the PresidentialCoordinating Council, where he reportedly stated the election date would fall on a Wednesday — which would be a public holiday for voting.
“As 2026 is the year in which the local government elections are held, they should be held on a Wednesday, which is the middle of the week, on a date that I now determine as 4 November 2026,” he said.
Subsequently, the minister of cooperative governance, Velenkosini Hlabisa, will gazette the election date, kick-starting political parties’ campaigns for votes.
The elections were expected to be held between November and January, within 90 days after the end of the 2021 term of office.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa has set the first voter registration weekend for 20 and 21 June, with a second expected between July and August to increase voter participation before the November poll.
The 2026 local elections is expected to be highly contested, especially in metro municipalities such as Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane where political parties have declared mayoral candidates.
