Your new mayor must be elected by 22 November. Here's how it works

Every new municipal council has 14 days from the day it is declared elected to hold its first meeting, where councillors pick a speaker and a mayor. With the IEC declaring the results on Sunday, 8 November, that puts the deadline at Sunday, 22 November 2026 (Inside Politics; SAnews; Municipal Structures Act, section 29).

The clock runs from the date each council is formally declared elected, not automatically from the national announcement, so a council whose declaration came later could have a slightly later date (Inside Politics).

That leaves parties two weeks to strike coalition deals in the hung councils, including seven of the eight metros. Cape Town is the only metro where one party, the DA, won an outright majority of seats (BusinessTech; Africanews).

You don't vote for your mayor directly. Who does?

Your councillors do. Voters elect ward and proportional representation councillors, and the council then elects the mayor at its first sitting (Inside Politics).

Sources: Inside Politics, Municipal Structures Act

District councils run on a separate clock. Their 14 days start only once all the representatives sent by local councils are in place (Inside Politics).

Can coalition talks push the deadline back?

No. Negotiations don't pause the legal deadline, so parties could walk into the first meeting with no signed deal and still have to vote. A coalition agreement on its own doesn't elect anyone; the vote in council does (Inside Politics).

The voting for speaker and mayor is by secret ballot. The Municipal Structures Amendment Bill, which would have given parties 30 days instead of 14, made coalition agreements public and made the mayoral vote open, was not passed before the election, local government expert Professor Jaap de Visser told CapeTalk (EWN).

What if councillors are tied?

The Act sets out tie-breaking rules, which can include further rounds of voting and, where prescribed, drawing lots (Inside Politics). De Visser warned that some councils could end up with an office-bearer "elected by the throw of a dice" (EWN).

Who runs your water and electricity in the meantime?

The municipal administration. The municipal manager, chief financial officer and senior officials keep running services such as water, electricity and refuse collection while the political leadership changes (Inside Politics).

Outgoing councils must hand over a political report and an administrative report, covering finances, service backlogs, audit results and debts, before the new council's first meeting. Government guidelines also tell municipalities to prioritise paying creditors such as Eskom and water boards to avoid service cuts. Officials may not take part in coalition talks or use municipal cars, venues or money for them (Inside Politics).

Where do talks stand in the big councils?

These are the parties' own public positions as of Monday, 9 November. Nothing has been signed.

President Cyril Ramaphosa urged parties on Sunday not to let disagreements hold essential services hostage (Africanews).

We'll update this page as mayors are elected in the metros.