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Eight metro mayoral candidates face residents' questions before election

Published

Ongoing: Elections Hot

Empty council chamber with rows of wooden benches facing a raised podium.

Candidates for Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni answered residents' questions on coalitions, the first 100 days, illegal immigration, corruption, crime and service delivery. Local government elections take place on 4 November.

Helen Zille, the DA candidate for Johannesburg, defended her party's national coalition with the ANC. She said the alternative is the "doomsday option". Bongani Baloyi of the MK Party ruled out working with the DA or the FF Plus.

Herman Mashaba, the ActionSA candidate for Johannesburg, said he fired more than 900 people for incompetence and corruption. He said: "I’m not in this job to make friends." Willie Spies, the FF Plus candidate for Tshwane, said his party is building "a new majority".

In Ekurhuleni, ANC candidate Jongizizwe Dlabathi said the metro "is not a crime scene". He said R840 million of the R2 billion lost through under-collected electricity has been recovered. EFF candidate Nthabiseng Tshivhenga said vetting found more than 200 metro police officers with criminal records.

Key facts

Who
Helen Zille (DA mayoral candidate for Johannesburg); Herman Mashaba (ActionSA mayoral candidate for Johannesburg); Bongani Baloyi (MK Party mayoral candidate for Johannesburg); Nasiphi Moya (ActionSA mayoral candidate for Tshwane)
When
3 November 2026
Where
Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni
Status
Reported

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Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

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