South Africa: special voting begins ahead of 4 November local elections

Special voting in South Africa’s municipal elections began on 2 November 2026 and continues on 3 November. SABC and Eyewitness News report voting-station operations and home visits ahead of the general poll on 4 November.

South African flag, October 2008. Archive image; not the 2026 vote. Chris Eason, CC BY 2.0. — Chris Eason / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ — 31 octobre 2008 ; sans modification.

The IEC approved more than 2.6 million applications. This is the number authorised to vote early, rather than a count of ballots already cast.

In Durban, EWN describes more than fifty older people voting at a TAFTA centre. Special ballots are to be stored and counted with other votes after general polling closes, under arrangements reported by Scrolla.

Sources 3

Scrolla — Record 2.6 million get early shot at local polls
EWN — Special voters make their mark, 2 November
IEC kicks off first day of special voting

What happened before?Continue in this file · South Africa: November 2026 local elections