Your ward

Your ward councillor is your ward's voice in the municipal council. Under the Structures Act they represent residents in council, chair the ward committee, run public participation, and tell the community what council decided. The Code of Conduct says councillors must report back to their constituencies at least every quarter. They do not run departments, hire staff, award tenders or give instructions to officials; the Code forbids interfering in the administration, which is led by the municipal manager. Ward committees (sections 72 to 78 of the Structures Act) are the councillor as chair plus up to 10 community representatives who advise on the IDP, the budget and local service problems.

• Can do: represent the ward in council, chair the ward committee, hold public meetings, take service complaints to the administration and track the response, give input on the IDP and budget.
• Cannot do: employ people, allocate tenders or houses, appoint municipal staff, or directly instruct officials (SALGA, and Code of Conduct item on interference in administration).
• Ward committee: councillor plus up to 10 members representing interests in the ward. It advises and communicates; it does not take municipal decisions.
• COGTA: the ward committee is council's recognised consultative body for the ward, including on the IDP and the budget process.
• Realistic expectations: regular report-back meetings, a working ward committee, complaints logged and followed up with the administration, and clear feedback on what was fixed and what was not.

• eNCA explainer with SALGA spokesperson: What your ward councillor can and cannot do, Jul 2026
• COGTA: Municipal ward committees, what you need to know, Aug 2023
• COGTA: Code of Conduct for Councillors (Schedule 7 of the Structures Act, from 1 November 2021), Feb 2022
• GroundUp: How to hold local government accountable, Jan 2014

Ask candidates about the job they are actually applying for. These questions are grounded in the councillor Code of Conduct, the ward committee rules and SALGA's explainer, except where we mark them as our own suggestion.

• 1. If you are the sitting councillor, how many council and committee meetings did you miss in this term? (Code of Conduct: a councillor must attend every meeting, and missing three in a row means removal.)
• 2. Do you live in this ward? If not, how will you stay visible and reachable? (The law does not require a councillor to live in the ward, but SALGA says they must remain visible and accessible.)
• 3. How, and how often, will you report back to residents? (The Code requires a report-back to the constituency at least every quarter.)
• 4. What exactly will you do about the top three problems in this ward, and which of them can a councillor fix rather than escalate? (SALGA lists water cuts, refuse, sewer spills, potholes and streetlights as things to escalate through a councillor, while the administration does the work.)

Go to ward committee and public meetings and ask for the quarterly report-back the Code of Conduct requires. Since November 2021 the Code sits in Schedule 7 of the Structures Act. It says a councillor must attend every council and committee meeting, is removed from office after missing three consecutive meetings, must disclose interests and withdraw from matters where they have one, may not be more than three months in arrears on municipal accounts, and may not interfere in the administration. If you think a councillor broke the Code, complain in writing to the Speaker, who must investigate, give the councillor a chance to reply, report to council in a public report and inform the MEC. Council can warn, reprimand or fine the councillor, or ask the MEC to suspend or remove them. For service failures, log a call with the metro call centre and keep the reference number, then give it to your councillor to follow up. If a ward seat becomes vacant, the MEC must call a by-election within 90 days.

• Complaints about a councillor: Speaker's office. The Speaker's report on a breach is open to the public, and council can also set up a special committee to investigate.
• Money oversight: every council must have a Municipal Public Accounts Committee (Structures Amendment Act 3 of 2021), and the Auditor-General reports on each municipality's audit outcome every year.
• Service complaints: Johannesburg 0860 56 28 74 (0860 JOBURG), 24 hours; Tshwane 012 358 9999 or toll free 080 111 1556; Ekurhuleni 0860 543 000. Always get a reference number.

Candidate nominations closed at 17:00 on Friday 28 August 2026. The IEC election timetable sets Wednesday 16 September 2026 as the day it compiles the lists of candidates and makes them available, and Friday 25 September 2026 for issuing certificates to candidates. On 5 September 2026 the IEC Candidate Lists page still showed only the 2024 national and provincial lists, so look on elections.org.za from 16 September for the 2026 ward lists. Independents can stand in wards: the timetable refers to a party or independent submitting nomination documents, and SALGA says a candidate must be nominated by a party or stand as an independent.

• 16 September 2026: IEC compiles candidate lists and makes them available (election timetable, s.15(1) and s.18(1) of the Municipal Electoral Act).
• 25 September 2026: certificates issued to candidates. 23 September 2026: parties and candidates sign the Electoral Code of Conduct.
• Where to look: elections.org.za, Parties and Candidates, Candidate Lists. Your ward ballot on 4 November also lists every ward candidate.
• Independent candidates may contest a ward seat. PR seats are for parties only.

• IEC: Election timetable for the 2026 Local Government Elections (PDF)

Go to the IEC voter information page and enter your ID number. The IEC says the result shows your registration status, your voting station and your ward details. You can also SMS your ID number to 32810 (R1.00 per SMS), WhatsApp Hi to 0600 88 0000, call 0800 11 8000, or enter your ID number in the IEC app. Online registration and address changes were only possible until the election date was proclaimed, so check now where you are registered rather than trying to change it.

• Website: elections.org.za, My voter registration box on the Voter information page. Shows status, voting station and ward.
• SMS: ID number to 32810 for registration status (R1.00 per SMS). SMS ID number to 32245 to get your current ward councillor and their contact details.
• WhatsApp: send Hi to 0600 88 0000 (the IEC chatbot sends you to the website). Call centre: 0800 11 8000, toll free from a landline, only open in periods the IEC announces.
• IEC app: download it and enter your ID number.
• Wards changed for 2026, so the IEC asked every voter to check whether their voting district moved.

Yes. The Municipal Demarcation Board redrew wards and handed the final wards to the IEC on 10 December 2025. South Africa goes from 4 468 wards in 2021 to 4 488 in 2026. Gauteng drops from 529 wards to 526, so a few Gauteng municipalities lose a ward while the metros stay close to their old size. The MDB says some voters will be in a new ward or voting station, so check your ward on demarcation.org.za or with the IEC. We could not open an MDB table giving the final 2026 ward count for each Gauteng municipality, so the 2021 numbers should not be assumed.

• National wards: 4 468 (2021) to 4 488 (2026). Gauteng: 529 (2016 and 2021) to 526 (2026). Source: MDB and IEC joint statement.
• The MDB must keep registered voters per ward within 15% of the norm and avoid splitting communities. Final ward determinations were gazetted in provincial gazettes from the week of 15 December 2025.
• Official 2026 ward boundary PDF maps for all nine Gauteng municipalities are on the MDB Spatial Hub. Ekurhuleni has published 2026 ward maps for wards 1 to 112.
• Outer municipal boundaries did not change for 2026 (COGTA Minister, 11 December 2025).
• 2021 counts for reference: Johannesburg 135, Tshwane 107, Ekurhuleni 112, Emfuleni 45, Mogale City 39, Midvaal 15, Rand West City 35, Merafong City 28, Lesedi 13. Confirm 2026 counts before quoting them.