President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the official date for the 2026 local government elections has been set for 4 November.
This date is likely to be set as a day off for South Africans, with the decision dependent on President Cyril Ramaphosa declaring the 2026 local government elections a national public holiday.
Ramaphosa made the announcement at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on Thursday, 30 April 2026.
Although the date has been proclaimed, Cooperative Governance Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa is expected to formally gazette it soon.
All municipal councils’ terms end on 2 November. Elections must be held within 90 days after this date, creating an election window from November to the end of January.
President Ramaphosa has now confirmed the official date, noting that he typically prefers to schedule elections on a Wednesday.
“As 2026 is the year in which the local government elections are held, they should be held on a Wednesday, which is the middle of the week, on a date that I now determine as 4 November 2026,” said Ramaphosa during his address.
The country officially has 12 public holidays each year, but the real number of days off varies depending on how the calendar falls.
The annual holiday calendar starts with New Year’s Day on 1 January and ends with the Day of Goodwill on 26 December.
Along the way are globally recognised dates such as International Workers’ Day on 1 May, Christmas Day on 25 December and the Easter period.
However, we also include uniquely South African holidays such as Human Rights Day, Freedom Day, Youth Day, National Women’s Day, Heritage Day and the Day of Reconciliation.
The day on which these holidays fall moves each year. The Easter weekend—determined according to the ecclesiastical moon—shifts between late March and late April.
In 2026, it falls from Friday, 3 April to Monday, 6 April, giving the typical long weekend many workers expect.
The president has the power to proclaim any day a public holiday
However, the Public Holidays Act (Act No. 36 of 1994) determines whether those holidays actually translate into extra time off.
If a public holiday lands on a weekday, most employees automatically receive the day off. If it falls on a Sunday, the following Monday becomes a public holiday instead.
The law does not grant a replacement day if a public holiday falls on a Saturday, meaning workers who do not normally work Saturdays effectively lose the benefit.
This will happen twice in 2026. Human Rights Day on 21 March and the Day of Goodwill on 26 December both fall on a Saturday.
For many employees, those holidays exist only on paper. This is where the upcoming local government elections could change things.
Once a date is set, the President has the authority to declare it a public holiday. Section 2A of the Public Holidays Act allows the President to proclaim any day a holiday nationwide.
The process starts with officially proclaiming the election date under the Constitution and electoral legislation, then issuing a second proclamation in the Government Gazette declaring that day a holiday.
In 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared Monday, 1 November 2021—the local government election date—a public holiday nationwide.
He also urged employers to make provision for workers to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
If the same approach is followed in the upcoming election cycle, South Africans would gain an additional day off, offsetting at least one of the calendar losses caused by weekend holidays in 2026.
