While urging eligible South Africans to cast their vote in the upcoming Local Government Elections, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, has also called on voters to ensure peaceful, credible, free, and fair municipal elections.
“Minister Hlabisa urges all South Africans to ensure peaceful, credible, free, and fair municipal elections. The Minister [has] urged all South Africans, especially women, youth, persons with disabilities, and people in rural areas under different traditional authorities to go out to strengthen democracy by voting in the coming elections on 04 November 2026,” the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) said.
This is as Minister Hlabisa gazetted the date of the municipal elections, as published in Government Gazette No. 55162, on Friday.
READ | Minister gazettes date of Local Government Elections
“The Minister of CoGTA has the responsibility in terms of the Constitution, section 159 read with the Municipal Structures Act, which prescribes that at the end of a five-year term of local government, elections must be held within a period of 90 days. Gazetting of the election date means that the IEC will close the voters’ roll and registration for the election will stop as the elections are drawing closer,” said the department.
The Minister thanked citizens who ensured that they are registered and their names appear in the voters’ roll following the registration drive undertaken by the Electoral Commission.
Online registration and updating of voter registration details for the upcoming elections closed at midnight on Friday.
“Following the gazetting of the election date and the closure of the voters' roll, the IEC [Electoral Commission] will over the course of the election period provide updates on processes until the election date. As the gazetting of the date signals the beginning of the election period, we are now all looking towards voting day,” the department said.
The gazette can be accessed here: https://www.cogta.gov.za/index.php/2026/08/07/45019/
At a media briefing on Friday, the Electoral Commission welcomed the proclamation of 4 November 2026 as the election date. The Commission also announced the publication of the Election Timetable.
The timetable serves as the guiding framework for various preparations, ranging from the finalisation and certification of the voters' roll for these elections to candidate nominations, objections, voting arrangements, special votes and the declaration of results. -SAnews.gov.za
