2026 South African municipal elections

2026 South African municipal elections

Between 2 November 2026 and 1 February 2027

All councillors for all 8 metropolitan municipalities
All councillors for all 205 local municipalities
40% of councillors for all 44 district municipalities
 
Leader Cyril Ramaphosa TBD Julius Malema
Party ANC DA EFF
Previous election popular vote 45.59% 21.62% 10.32%

 
Leader Velenkosini Hlabisa Corné Mulder Herman Mashaba
Party IFP VF+ ActionSA
Previous election popular vote 5.65% 2.34% 2.34%

The 2026 South African municipal elections will be held across South Africa, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. A total of 508 political parties registered to participate in the elections. The total number of voting districts heading into the elections was 4,488.

As of December 2025, a total of 27.67 million South Africans were registered to vote, according to the Electoral Commission. The largest voting block was citizens aged 30 through 39 years old. 55% of registered voters were female.