By Silver Sibiya
Special voting for South Africa’s 2026 Local Government Elections has proceeded relatively smoothly in several parts of Johannesburg, with police maintaining a visible presence at some voting stations.
Newsnote visited voting stations in Hillbrow and Jeppe before heading to Dlamini in Soweto, where voting activity was relatively quiet in some areas.
The special voting process is taking place over two days, Monday and Tuesday, ahead of the main election day on Wednesday, 4 November 2026.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has confirmed that 2,655,067 voters have been approved for special voting across the country.
IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said 678,525 voters had been approved for home visits, while 1,976,542 would cast their ballots at their registered voting stations.
Mamabolo urged voters approved for home visits to remain at their registered addresses to ensure they do not miss the opportunity to vote.
“The officials will not return to the same address if they don’t find the voter when they visit for the first time,” Mamabolo said.
IEC Assures Voters of Secure Special Ballots
The IEC has assured voters that special ballots will remain secure and will only be counted alongside ordinary ballots on election day.
Mamabolo explained that special votes would not be counted on 2 and 3 November, but would be secured and reconciled with the special-vote records before being opened and counted with ballots cast on election day.
“Special votes are not counted on 2 and 3 November. They remain secured and are reconciled with the special-vote records before being opened and counted together with the ballots cast on Election Day, 4 November 2026,” he said.
The commission has deployed 127,000 electoral officials to oversee the special voting process nationwide.
More Than 136,000 Candidates Contesting Council Seats
The 2026 Local Government Elections are expected to see significant participation, with 136,790 candidates certified to contest 10,526 council seats across the country.
As special voting continues, attention is turning to Wednesday’s main election day, when voters across South Africa will head to the polls to elect their local representatives.
