A ward is your part of the municipality, usually a few suburbs or a section of a township. You elect one councillor for it by name.
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2026 ward candidates are not loaded here yet. Check the IEC's published lists and confirm your 2026 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sitting-councillor records use the 2021 ward set and include researched updates. A 2026 ward with the same number can cover a different area. Confirm your 2026 ward with the IEC.