The IEC has received significantly more nominations for the November local government elections, with an analyst linking the increase to unemployment, political confidence and a changing electoral landscape.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has recorded a 43% increase in candidate nominations for the 2026 local government elections, with 142,072 candidates set to contest 10,526 councillor seats.
The number of nominations is up from 99,000 in the 2021 local government elections, with independent political analyst Goodenough Mashego saying the increase could be linked to unemployment and growing confidence among South Africans to participate in politics.
Speaking to IOL, Mashego said the figures challenged the perception that South Africans were becoming increasingly apathetic towards politics.
Mashego said the increase in people seeking to become councillors was a positive sign and suggested that concerns about voter apathy did not necessarily reflect sentiment on the ground.
