By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider

The date for the upcoming municipal elections have been announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa as he has set the municipal elections for 4 November 2026. The President made the announcement at the Birchwood hotel in Boksburg, last week Thursday.

The Cooperative Governance Minister Velenkosi Hlabisa is expected to follow up the announcement as the term for all municipal councils will come to an end on 2 November 2026.

The Constitution states that local governments are to be held within 90 days of the term’s expiry as this places the election window from 4 November to the end of January.

 “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” said Ramaphosa.

 The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has said it will hold its first voter registration on the weekend of 20-21 June. These upcoming municipal elections are set to be very heated and contested elections as more parties have registered themselves for these elections. 

A recent “Pulse of the People” study has revealed that 47% of South Africans have felt that there are no South African parties that represent their views, even though there are more than 500 parties that are registered with the Electoral Commission.

 Another side of the study also shows that 61% of the population are looking forward to voting and only 38% of those people are of the belief that their municipalities are doing their jobs well.

 Despite the recent surge in political parties being registered only 49% of South Africans intend to participate in the 2026 local government elections according to data from Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the IEC. This shows a drop in voter turn out from 58% in 2016 to 47% in 2026.