The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has outlined the remaining processes required to conclude the 2026 Local Government Elections following the announcement of results on Sunday, 8 November.
The Commission must complete several procedures before publishing the names of elected councillors in the Government Gazette.
Under the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, municipal managers must convene the first meeting of their respective councils within 14 days after councillors have been declared elected.
One of the processes involved political parties that won more seats than the number of candidates nominated on their proportional representation (PR) lists.
The IEC notified affected parties on Monday, 9 November, giving them until Wednesday, 11 November, at 17:00 to submit additional candidates. That deadline has now passed. Parties were only permitted to fill shortages, not change their lists or replace candidates.
Parties that failed to supplement their lists risk forfeiting seats if the shortage makes it impossible for the municipal council to achieve a quorum.
The Commission must also notify parties where candidates stand to be allocated more than one seat. Parties must select which seat the candidate will occupy, with the same requirement applying to independent candidates qualifying for more than one ward seat.
Failure to make the required selection will result in the candidate’s name being removed from the list. If this affects a ward seat, a by-election will be required.
Four ward contests were decided by drawing lots after candidates received an equal number of votes. These were Ward 7 in Mnquma Municipality in the Eastern Cape, Ward 14 in Maluti A Phofung in the Free State, Ward 5 in Ba-Phalaborwa in Limpopo and Ward 17 in Steve Tshwete in Mpumalanga.
A total of 10,526 seats were available in the elections, comprising 8,825 local council seats and 1,701 district council seats.
Of the district council seats, 707 have already been filled through the district proportional representation ballot. The remaining 994 will be filled through elections in which local councillors elect representatives from among themselves to serve on district councils.
Once the outstanding processes have been completed, the IEC will publish the final names of elected councillors in the Government Gazette, allowing preparations for the inaugural council meetings to proceed.
The Commission has urged political parties and elected representatives to comply with the prescribed deadlines to ensure the timely constitution of new municipal councils.
