South Africa Gets Extra Public Holiday in 2026 as Ramaphosa Declares Election Day
- President Cyril Ramaphosa officially declared 4 November 2026 a public holiday to coincide with local government elections
- The Electoral Commission of South Africa recorded a 43% surge in candidate nominations compared to the 2021 municipal elections
- A legal dispute has already emerged, with the ANC and other parties challenging the IEC over technical issues with online submissions
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SOUTH AFRICA - South Africans will get an extra day off work this year after President Cyril Ramaphosa formally declared Wednesday, 4 November, a public holiday ahead of the 2026 local government elections.
The declaration was made under Section 2A of the Public Holidays Act, which empowers the president to designate a day as a public holiday through a notice published in the Government Gazette. The move gives citizens a full day free of work commitments to cast their votes in the municipal elections.
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa had already officially proclaimed 4 November as election day back in August. Ramaphosa's gazetting of the public holiday formally completes the legal process. The president had first announced the election date in April, following discussions at the Extended Presidential Co-ordinating Council meeting.
142,072 candidates to contest 10,526 seats
The announcement arrives as South Africa braces for what looks set to be a fiercely competitive election cycle. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) recorded 142,072 candidate nominations for the 2026 elections, representing a 43% increase on the roughly 99,000 nominations received before the 2021 local government elections.
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IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya confirmed that these candidates will compete for 10,526 councillor seats across the country. Political parties submitted 40,241 candidates for proportional representation seats and 100,856 for ward seats, while 975 independent candidates were nominated for ward contests.
Nominations closed at 5pm on 28 August, with 299 political parties and 127 independent candidates using the IEC's online system, and a further 205 political parties and 634 independent candidates submitting their paperwork manually.
IEC faces legal challenge over nomination process
The commission now faces the task of scrutinising all nominations to verify that candidates have met every requirement, including checking nomination forms, applicable deposits and, for independent candidates, supporting voter information.
The process has not been without controversy. The ANC and several other political parties approached the Electoral Court after experiencing technical difficulties with the IEC's online nomination system. The parties claim the glitches prevented them from receiving confirmation slips, which caused some candidate entries to appear as though they had been submitted after the deadline.
With the public holiday now gazetted, South Africans have both the legal right and a clear opportunity to participate in shaping their local government on 4 November 2026.
IEC announces number of registered political parties
Briefly News previously reported that the number of registered political parties in South Africa has risen sharply from 508 to 620, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced on Thursday, as preparations intensify ahead of the November 4 local government elections. IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo disclosed the figure while briefing media ahead of the country's final voter registration weekend, scheduled for Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 August.
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Source: Briefly News
