Local government elections in 2026 to be prioritised
The IEC vice chair said they are anticipating issues of service delivery to intensify in the local elections as they were prevalent in the recent national elections.
The national government elections have long since concluded and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is shifting its focus on the upcoming local government elections, set for November 2026 to January 2027.
Heeding a call made by the IEC, various media publications and heads of communication engaged with the commission’s vice chairperson, Commissioner Janet Love, and the Mpumalanga electoral officer, Gugu Langa, at the Emnotweni Arena on October 16.
Langa and Love said the media’s involvement in any election is paramount, therefore this engagement served as a stepping stone, especially in preparation for the local government elections.
In this engagement, the attendees shared their views on the processes of the electoral system, the commission’s Section 24a, which is an application to vote at another station than the one registered at, and the outcomes of the national government elections.
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“There is an increase in doubt about the need to vote, not just in the country, but internationally as well. We do see a world of political divide and uncertainty in global and local politics. We are also experiencing online activism, which is susceptible to misinformation, disinformation and fake news, and that is why we need to get the media involved to dissect the information for the public to consume with understanding. In addition to this, we experienced insufficient understanding of the commission’s Section 24a in the recent elections,” Love said.
The issues surrounding service delivery were more prevalent in the national elections than ever recorded.
“As we move towards the local elections, how much more intense will these issue be? Therefore, this is our call to the media to join us to enable the kind of atmosphere we anticipate in our country,” she said.
When asked about digital voting, Love said South Africa is quite far from experimenting with digitalised voting processes. “There is a wide digital divide in the country, wherein also the infrastructure itself needs a different type of prioritising to tap into digital voting. Not everyone had access to the internet, which is a challenge on its own,” she said.
