Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa will announce a date for the next Local Government Elections (LGE) once his consultation with the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has concluded.

The law provides that the term of a municipal council is five years and that elections must be held no later than 90 days following the end of the term.

The current municipal councils were elected on November 1, 2021.

“…this means that the current term will end on November 2, 2026. Therefore, the general elections of municipal councils fall due between November 2, 2026 and the end of January 2027,” the IEC said on Tuesday.

Municipal wards are the political boundaries within which a single councillor is elected based on the first-past-the-post principle.

The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) plays a pivotal role in shaping the political geography of the country through the determination of both municipal and ward boundaries.

The MDB has indicated that it is about to conclude the process of ward delimitation.

“Crucially, the MDB will hand over final ward boundaries to the IEC at the end of October 2025. There will, however, be a residual of 18 municipalities that will be handed over at a later stage,” the commission explained.

These relate to municipalities that were subject to requests for the review of external municipal boundaries.

Engagements with the MDB are planned to agree on the precise date for the receipt of wards for these residual municipalities, the IEC said.

“Once the MDB provides the final set of wards to the Commission, the Commission will analyse its network of voting districts to ensure that they are geographically aligned to the final ward boundaries in preparation for voter registration ahead of LGE 2026-2027,” the IEC explained.