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Voters get guide to 4 November local elections

Published

Ongoing: Elections Hot

An explainer for young voters sets out how South Africa's local government elections work, including which ballot papers people receive. A total of 546 political parties are competing for votes in the polls.

South Africa has over 200 municipalities, and eight of them are metropolitan municipalities. Municipalities provide services to residents, and voters choose the people who run them.

Voters in a local municipality receive three ballot papers. Voters in a metropolitan municipality receive two ballot papers.

The explainer also describes the roles of ward councillors, proportional representation (PR) councillors and mayors.

Key facts

Who
Eyewitness News (publisher of the explainer)
When
2 November 2026
Where
South Africa
Status
Reported

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