South Africa local elections: 2.66 million special votes begin today before 29 million voters choose 10,526 councillors on November 4

South Africans began casting the first ballots of their local government elections on Monday, with 2,655,067 approved special voters voting at home or at stations on November 2 and 3. Everyone else votes on Wednesday, November 4, when about 29.24 million registered people can help fill 10,526 council seats across 257 municipalities.

The result will decide who runs water, electricity distribution, refuse collection and roads in places such as Johannesburg and Cape Town. It is also the first national test of the coalition government formed after the African National Congress lost its parliamentary majority in 2024.

How to vote on Wednesday, in one table

What	Details
Special votes	Monday and Tuesday, 8am to 5pm (home visits and approved station voters)
Election day	Wednesday, November 4, 7am to 9pm, a public holiday
Where	Only the station where you registered
ID you need	Green barcoded ID book, Smart ID card or temporary identity certificate
Check your station	SMS your ID number to 32810 or use maps.elections.org.za/vsfinder
Number of ballots	Two in metros (ward and party), three in district areas
Final results	Must be declared by November 11, unless the Electoral Court extends the deadline

Registration is closed; the roll shut at midnight on August 7. Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said anyone who misses a scheduled home visit can still vote at their registered station on Wednesday. Special ballots stay sealed and are counted with the rest once polls close.

The special vote has grown sharply. The approved figure is up 131% from 1,147,759 in 2021, split between 678,525 home visits and 1,976,542 people voting at stations ahead of time. The commission has deployed about 127,000 officials for the two days.

Why the ballot paper is so long in Johannesburg

A record 136,790 candidates are standing, against 95,427 in 2021, and more than 500 parties are registered. Voters in Johannesburg will find 75 parties on the party ballot, with 70 in Tshwane, 69 in eThekwini and 67 in Ekurhuleni.

That crowding has consequences. Just under a third of the 257 councils had no majority party after the last vote, and 74 municipalities were run by coalitions or minority administrations by February 2026. Another round of hung councils would mean days or weeks of bargaining before some mayors are chosen.

What the polls say about the ANC, DA and MK

The ANC won 45.59% in 2021, its first result under 50% in a local election since the end of apartheid. Pollsters put it well below that level now, though they measure different groups of voters and local samples are small.

Poll	ANC	DA	MK	EFF
2021 result (not a poll; MK did not stand)	45.59%	21.62%	n/a	10.32%
Ipsos, Sept–Oct, national	30%	28%	12%	10%
SRF, Sept–Oct, national	32%	26%	12%	8%

Three metros are drawing the most attention. Johannesburg polls have shown the Democratic Alliance ahead, by as little as 30% to 27% in the Ipsos survey and by wider margins elsewhere, with the DA's Helen Zille running for mayor against ActionSA's Herman Mashaba, among others. In eThekwini, which includes Durban, a mid-year Ipsos sample had Jacob Zuma's MK party far in front in its first local contest. In Cape Town, which the DA governs, polls show it holding on, though with less than its 58.2% of 2021.

Water cuts and bucket toilets are the campaign

Basic services have dominated the race, in a country where unemployment stands at 33%. Ntombekhaya Makeleni, 53, of Khayelitsha near Cape Town, still relies on a bucket toilet and plans to vote anyway. Nikesh Nunkoo, 27, from Durban, described water cuts lasting from three days to two weeks and is still undecided. Nkanyiso Hadebe, 24, of Chatsworth, will not vote at all.

That apathy is a real risk for every party. Turnout was about 46% at the 2021 local elections, against 58.6% at the 2024 national vote. An Ipsos survey in March found only 38% of people thought their municipality was doing its job well.

Violence before the vote

Researchers recorded 43 people killed in 45 suspected political attacks between January 1 and September 30, and estimate the total is now about 50. That is a research count, not a police figure. President Cyril Ramaphosa has deployed 510 soldiers to KwaZulu-Natal until November 30, and a South African Communist Party candidate, Ernest Fipaza, 63, was shot dead at home in Dutywa, Eastern Cape, on October 23.

When the first results will come

Counting takes place at each voting station once polls close at 9pm on Wednesday. The commission's dashboard at results.elections.org.za updates as stations report, and its national results centre is at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand. In 2021, final results came three days after voting. The legal deadline this time is November 11.