Pretoria: The Electoral Commission (IEC) has announced that an unprecedented 136,790 candidates have met the statutory requirements to contest South Africa's local government elections, scheduled for 4 November 2026. This marks a significant increase in candidate numbers compared to previous elections.
According to South African Government News Agency, the IEC's Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo, revealed that out of the 136,790 candidates, 98,219 are nominated by parties to represent wards, while 38,571 will represent parties in the Proportional Representation (PR) election. Additionally, 621 candidates are independents nominated to represent wards. These candidates will be vying for seats across the country's eight metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities, and 205 local municipalities.
Mamabolo highlighted the substantial increase from the 95,427 certified candidates recorded in the 2021 municipal elections, even though the number of available seats has only slightly increased from 10,478 in 2021 to 10,526 in 2026. He noted that the candidate nomination process closed on 28 August 2026, with candidates submitting their documents either in person or via the Online Candidate Nomination Portal. The online submissions accounted for 84% of the nominations, with the remaining 16% submitted manually.
On 4 September 2026, the Commission issued notices to 221 parties and independent candidates, requesting additional details for 1,280 nominated candidates. These candidates were given until 7 September 2026 to provide identification documents and completed acceptance-of-nomination forms. Further notices were issued on 9 September 2026 for 550 candidates who had either been nominated as independent candidates and again by a party or nominated by more than one party.
Following the conclusion of statutory reviews, the IEC disqualified 5,096 candidates for various reasons, including failure to pay the necessary deposits or improper nomination. The Commission is set to publish the list of all candidates and political parties that will contest the elections later today.