The upcoming polls are expected to be a fierce electoral contest
Electoral Commission CEO Sy Mamabolo briefs the media on preparations for 2026/27 local government elections in Centurion Pretoria. Picture: Freddy Mavunda © Business DayWhile the date for the 2026/27 municipal elections is yet to be announced, the IEC is advising political parties to finalise and submitThe Electoral Commission of South Africa told MPs on Tuesday that it was expecting the minister of co-operative government and traditional affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa,The first voter registration weekend is due to take place in June.
The IEC is also taking steps to prevent mishaps that almost called the credibility of the 2024 elections results into question, when the results leaderboard went blank for almost two hours. IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo and other electoral commissioners were briefing parliament’s portfolio committee on home affairs on their state of readiness for 2026/27 municipal elections. The upcoming polls are expected to be a fierce electoral contest following the 2024 national election that saw the ANC losing majority control in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Northern Cape. “The second registration weekend will be held at the beginning of August, whereafter we anticipate that minister Hlabisa will proclaim the election date,” Mamabolo told lawmakers. Now a big number of objections and court actions in the 2024 elections related to matters pertaining to candidates’ nominations, so we have done workshops in all provinces for unregistered parties as well as prospective independents to ensure that everybody is given information about nomination processes well ahead of time … so we did that in November and December 2025.“The proclamation of the election date has two legal consequences. First, the commission must at that point publish an election timetable. The import of the election timetable is to indicate which electoral activity must be performed and by what date and time. “The second consequence of the proclamation of the electoral date is that the voters’ roll closes on the night of the .” Mamabolo also indicated that the nominations of candidates would be opened as soon as the electoral date is proclaimed. But Mamabolo has advised parties to conclude their candidates selection processes at least by the end of July.“But our advice is to all political players, is to be sure to have your candidates’ processes concluded no later than the 30of July, because soon after minister Hlabisa proclaims the election date parties will be called upon to make their submissions. “Now a big number of objections and court actions in the 2024 elections related to matters pertaining to candidates’ nominations, so we have done workshops in all provinces for unregistered parties as well as prospective independents to ensure that everybody is given information about nomination processes well ahead of time … so we did that in November and December 2025.” IEC CFO Dawn Mbatha said the chapter nine institution has been allocated an additional R1.1bn towards the funding of the local government elections, which are expected to take place before the end of the year. To avoid a recurrence of what happened in 2024 at the IEC results operation centre in Midrand, when the results board went offline for almost two hours, the IEC is the process of procuring external auditors to help beef up their systems, Mamabolo said. “We are already in the market for an external auditor who will come and independently review the security features of the results system. “Once that work is completed, we will also invite political parties to bring their own auditors to make their own findings in terms of the functionality and security features of the results system.”
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