Elections are a key part of our democracy. They give eligible voters the power to decide who should represent their interest at ward, municipal, provincial and national levels using their constitutional right to vote. The SAHRC has also noted pronouncement by the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa's (IEC) that voter turnout in the 2026 local government elections stands at 52%, an increase from the 45.9% recorded in 2021 local government elections. The SAHRC commends voters who defied extreme heatwave to cast their votes.

The SAHRC placed more than 36 election observers across all nine provinces to monitor how the elections were run to ensure that people’s rights were respected before, during and after voting day.  Whilst noting an incident at Douglas, Northern Cape in Siyancuma Municipality where it has been reported that that some people stormed the station and destroyed ballot papers before they could be counted, and pronouncement by the IEC to conduct a revote, the SAHRC commends the IEC for conducting a largely incident free election.

Voters, political and the law enforcement agencies equally played their important roles to ensure that elections were largely incident free. Pronouncements being made by different political parties to welcome the elections regardless of their performance show that South Africa’s democracy is maturing, and that everyone understands that elections reflect the will of the people.

The SAHRC will complete its assessment of the information gathered by its observers. A full report detailing SAHRC observation will be released in due course.

The SAHRC calls on all political parties, candidates and supporters to accept the results peacefully. Anyone who disputes with the outcome should use the legal channels provided, such as the IEC’s complaints processes or the courts. Violence, threats and intimidation have no place in our democracy.

ENDS

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION