South Africa is getting another public holiday in 2026 after President Cyril Ramaphosa officially declared Wednesday, November 4, the date of the local government elections, a public holiday.
The additional day off is directly linked to the local government elections and is intended to allow South Africans to participate in the vote.
The declaration followed the official gazetting and proclamation of November 4 as the election date by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa in August.
Ramaphosa’s declaration was made in terms of Section 2A of the Public Holidays Act.
The section gives the president the power to declare a specific day a public holiday across the country or in a particular area by publishing a notice in the Government Gazette.
The declaration was widely expected, given the precedent of election days being declared public holidays. The gazetting, however, formally completed the legislative process.
Ramaphosa announced in April that the municipal elections would be held on November 4, following discussions at the Extended Presidential Co-ordinating Council meeting.
Candidate numbers surge
Last week, IOL reported that South Africa’s 2026 local government elections are shaping up to be a fiercely contested race, with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) recording a 43% increase in candidate nominations compared with the 2021 municipal elections.
Speaking at a media briefing at Election House last Wednesday, IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said 142,072 candidates had been nominated to contest 10,526 councillor seats in the November 4 elections.
The figure represents a significant increase from the 99,000 nominations filed for the 2021 local government elections.
“To put the scale of participation into perspective, 99,000 nominations to contest the 2021 local government elections were filed,” Moepya said.
“Therefore, 142,072 nominations received for the 2026 elections represents an increase of approximately 43% compared with the 2021 elections.”
IEC to scrutinise nominations
The candidate nomination period closed at 5pm on August 28, with political parties and independent candidates submitting their nominations through the IEC’s online system and manually at its offices.
Moepya said 299 political parties and 127 independent candidates submitted nominations through the Online Candidate Nomination System. A further 205 political parties and 634 independent candidates submitted nominations manually through IEC offices.
Political parties nominated 40,241 candidates for proportional representation (PR) seats and 100,856 candidates for ward seats.
A further 975 independent candidates were nominated to contest ward seats.
The IEC will now scrutinise the submitted nominations to determine whether candidates have met the requirements for the elections.
This includes checking that acceptance-of-nomination forms have been completed, applicable deposits have been paid by political parties and independent candidates, and independent candidates have submitted details of registered voters supporting their candidature.
The declaration of the public holiday comes as the ANC and other parties approach the Electoral Court, arguing that technical glitches within the IEC’s online system prevented them from receiving submission confirmation slips, making their candidate entries appear late.
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