South Africa's 2026 local elections see record 142,072 candidates nominated
The Electoral Commission of South Africa IEC announced that a record 142,072 candidates have been nominated to contest 10,526 council seats in the November 2026 local government elections. This marks a 43% increase from the 2021 nominations, reflecting a significant expansion of political competition. The nominations include submissions from 299 political parties and 127 independents via the Online Candidate Nomination System, with additional manual submissions from 205 political parties and 634 independents. Of the total, 40,241 candidates are for Proportional Representation PR seats, and 100,856 for ward seats, including 975 independent candidates. The IEC is now verifying compliance with legislative requirements, with the final candidate list to be published on September 16, 2026. Candidate demographics show that individuals aged 36 to 55 dominate, accounting for 58% of nominees, with the 41-45 age group being the largest cluster at 16%. Gender representation remains skewed, with men making up nearly two-thirds of all nominations and women representing about 38% overall. The City of Johannesburg leads in PR contestation with 80 parties, followed by the City of Tshwane with 72. The IEC also noted that 2,274 candidates were captured but not formally submitted by the deadline and are therefore not in contention. Out of 732 registered political parties, 546 will contest the elections. The IEC emphasized the importance of upholding the Electoral Code of Conduct to ensure free a