By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has certified 136790 candidates to contest South Africa’s 2026 Local Government Elections (LGE) on 4 November 2026.
The IEC’s Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo told a media briefing on Wednesday in Pretoria.
Over 140 000 candidates had submitted their nominations to contest 10 500 municipal seats before the deadline on August 28.
Following the submission, the commission then embarked on reviewing the submissions for compliance.
The process included checking whether candidates paid the applicable deposits, completed acceptance of nomination forms and submitted details of registered voters supporting their candidature.
This comes at a time when the African National Congress (ANC) has legally challenged the IEC over its Online Candidate Nomination System (OCNS) at the Electoral Court.
The candidates will contest seats across the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 205 local municipalities.
Mamabolo said the number is significantly higher than the 95 427 certified candidates recorded in the 2021 municipal elections, despite the number of available seats increasing only marginally from 10 478 in 2021 to 10 526 in 2026.
“The candidate nomination process closed on 28 August 2026 at 5pm, with candidates able to submit their documents either in person at Electoral Commission offices or through the Online Candidate Nomination Portal,” he said.
Mamabolo said the online submissions accounted for 84% of nominations, while 16% were submitted manually.
“On 4 September 2026, the Commission issued notices to 221 parties and independent candidates to submit additional details in respect of 1 280 nominated candidates, who were given until 7 September 2026 to provide identification documents and completed acceptance-of-nomination forms. “
“On 9 September 2026, the Commission issued notices to parties and independent candidates in relation to 550 candidates who had either been nominated as independent candidates and again by a party, or who had been nominated by more than one party,” Mamabolo said.
The IEC disqualified 5 096 candidates after the conclusion of the statutory reviews, including confirmation that all contestants had paid the applicable deposits, and that all candidates were properly nominated.
The Commission has also published the candidates lists that show that the ANC has no candidates listed for 6 municipalities.
In a judgment handed down on Wednesday, 16 September 2026, the Electoral Court rejected the ANC’s argument that its candidates should be accepted because the party had substantially completed the nomination process before the 28 August deadline.
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu said the party had noted the judgment and would pursue the appropriate appeal process.
“The ANC respects the courts and the judicial process. We have consistently maintained that this matter is not about seeking preferential treatment for the ANC, nor about asking the Electoral Commission to change the rules for the benefit of our organisation,” Bhengu said.