By Marcus Moloko
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has confirmed that special voting for the 2026 Local Government Elections will take place on Monday, 2 November, and Tuesday, 3 November 2026, ahead of Election Day on Wednesday, 4 November 2026.
The Commission confirmed it is fully prepared to administer the special voting process nationwide.
The IEC announced that 2,655,067 voters have been approved to cast special votes across South Africa, either through home visits or at their registered voting stations.
The approved voters include 480,721 in Gauteng, 401,971 in the Eastern Cape, 348,971 in KwaZulu-Natal, 341,623 in Limpopo, 292,775 in Mpumalanga, 291,866 in the Western Cape, 235,733 in North West, 132,088 in the Free State and 129,319 in the Northern Cape.
According to the Commission, 678,525 voters have been approved for home visits because of physical infirmity or disability.
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Electoral officials will visit these voters at the addresses provided in their applications during the two-day special voting period.
The IEC urged approved voters to remain at home until election officials have assisted them.
The remaining 1,976,542 voters have been authorised to cast special votes at their registered voting stations. The Commission said Gauteng recorded the highest number of approved voting station special voters, with 391,589 applications approved.
Voting stations designated for special voting will operate from 08:00 to 17:00 on both Monday and Tuesday.
The IEC reminded voters that they may only vote at the voting station where they are registered and must present a valid South African identity document, including a Smart ID card, green barcoded ID book or temporary ID document.
Voters can verify their special voting status by sending an SMS to 32711 at a cost of R1 per message.
Voting station details and voters’ roll sequence numbers can also be obtained through the IEC WhatsApp service on 0600 88 0000, the IEC Contact Centre on 0800 11 8000, or by SMS to 32810.
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The IEC has deployed approximately 127,000 electoral officials to facilitate both home visits and voting station-based special voting over the next two days.
The Commission said special votes will not be counted on Monday or Tuesday, but will be securely stored and counted together with ballots cast on Election Day.
Political party agents, independent candidate representatives and accredited observers will be permitted to observe the process in accordance with electoral rules.
The Commission also warned that rainfall is forecast in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape, while hot weather conditions are expected in the North West, Limpopo, Northern Cape and Free State.
Voters have been encouraged to monitor local weather forecasts and make the necessary arrangements to cast their ballots.
The IEC said it continued to work closely with the security cluster and the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) to ensure a safe and secure election environment for voters, election officials and election materials throughout the special voting period and on Election Day.
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