Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Velenkosini Hlabisa, has announced that he will officially proclaim the election date for Local Government Elections on Friday, 7 August.
The announcement will mark a critical milestone in the country’s electoral calendar, as municipalities prepare for the November polls.
The IEC has explained that the online voter registration portal will remain operational to allow eligible citizens to register and update their details until the election date is officially proclaimed.
Once the proclamation is gazetted, the voters’ roll will close, and no further registrations or amendments will be permitted.
Hlabisa was speaking in KwaZulu-Natal, where the highest number of voter registration transactions was recorded, followed by the Eastern Cape and Gauteng.
He says, “We have done all necessary work with IEC as I chair the interministerial committee on the local government election. A government gazette is ready; we have booked the space on Friday, the 7th of August. I will officially gazette the 4th of November as the election date for local government elections, and the voters’ roll will close at midnight on that day.”
Hlabisa has called on all South Africans who will be 18 years old by the 4th of November to go to their nearest voting stations to register and to check their names on the voters’ roll.
He says, “If you can’t do it today(Sunday), you still have tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Don’t wait for the last day because you will be excluding yourself from deciding your future for the development that you want as a community. This time around, we don’t want people to protest, to march on the streets; we want people to take their protest to the ballot box. Vote out the councillor that did not serve you, vote in a new councillor who will serve you, whom you will hold accountable, whom you will be able to follow daily in terms of your service delivery needs in your ward.”
LGE 2026 | Election date to be proclaimed on Friday, August 7: Hlabisa
