The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) declared the 2026 local government elections in Mpumalanga largely successful, despite scattered administrative glitches and isolated ballot irregularities.

According to IEC provincial spokesperson Thanduxolo Chembeni, the disruptions included an IEC official sustaining minor injuries in a vehicle accident.

Chembeni said other glitches included alleged ballot tampering in at least two municipalities.

“The 2026 local government elections kicked off with the special vote on November 2 and November 3 for home and station visits,” said Chembeni. “We had an unfortunate incident on Monday where one of our staff members was involved in an accident while transporting material to stations and sustained minor injuries.”

“Tuesday went well, closing stations at 17:00,” added Chambeni. “Wednesday, November 4, was election day where voting stations opened from 07:00 to 21:00.”

Irregularities investigated across municipalities

He said the reported incidents were relatively minor and included alleged ballot box tampering in Nkomazi, City of Mbombela and Steve Tshwete; reconciliation not balancing; incorrect completion of results slips; and ballots of Ward 11 mistakenly delivered and partly used in Ward 10.

Chembeni said the solutions included the recounting of ballots in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality and City of Mbombela, where ballots were quarantined and counted after being looked at case by case.

He said a presiding officer was relieved of his duties due to an alleged serious breach of electoral processes. Internal IEC investigations are still ongoing in this regard and it is not clear whether the police are also investigating the allegations.

Recounting and seat distributions

“At the time of updating, 15 local municipalities of the 17 in the province had concluded processing and two were still outstanding, Steve Tshwete and Nkomazi,” said Chembeni shortly after 01:00.

He added that the ANC secured outright control of Chief Albert Luthuli and Bushbuckridge by achieving more than 51% of the vote.

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“The other 13 municipalities are hung. The Service Delivery Party leads the Victor Khanye Local Municipality, the MK Party is leading in Mkhondo Local Municipality and the ANC is leading the other 13 municipalities,” said Chembeni.

Meanwhile, DA provincial leader Jane Sithole said the party was pleased to have won several unexpected wards in Mpumalanga, including in rural municipalities such as Nkomazi. She added that the DA had grown to become the province’s second-largest party.

“The two outstanding municipalities are currently in progress and will be concluded soon,” added Chembeni