More than 1.3 million voters had cast special votes by midday on Tuesday, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said.
Tuesday was the second and last day of special votes for the 2026 Local Government Elections. Special voting started on Monday, 2 November.
IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo told a media briefing in Midrand that voting stations opened at 8am. He said they were on course to close at 5pm, while home visit teams kept to their planned schedule.
Mamabolo said special voters who could not reach their voting stations by 5pm would be allowed to vote on Voting Day, 4 November 2026.
He also warned about false claims spreading online. He said the IEC’s information integrity hub had picked up growing attempts to question the election over the past 24 hours, mostly on social media.
According to Mamabolo, some supporters posted videos of officials moving special vote ballots from carrying boxes and bags into the main ballot box after home visits. He said the videos were shared without context, with claims that something was wrong.
“We urge citizens not to take any such social posts at face value, and to check the context before sharing,” he said.
He asked people to report false or misleading content, including AI-generated material, at www.real411.org.za.
The IEC asked political parties not to make inflammatory remarks that give a false picture of normal voting procedures. It said parties and candidates should use the official reporting channels if they spot problems with election officials.
“The Commission has already swiftly acted on election officials who fell short of carrying out their duties as required,” the IEC said.
The commission said the Real411 platform had received 34 complaints. These covered misinformation, incitement to violence, hate speech and harassment.
The IEC said 58.8% of the complaints were about posts on X, formerly Twitter. TikTok made up 23.5%, while Facebook and WhatsApp each made up 8.8%.
Mamabolo reminded voters that local elections work differently from national and provincial elections. He said voters get two or three ballot papers, depending on the municipality where they are registered.
“The Commission reminds voters to make one X in the box next to their preferred candidate or political party per ballot paper,” he said. He added that extra marks could lead to a spoilt ballot.
The IEC said each ballot paper counts as a separate vote and must be marked on its own. Mamabolo asked voters to fold each ballot before placing it in the correct box.
The commission said it has made two types of Universal Ballot Templates so that blind voters can cast a secret vote on their own. Every voting station has a single column and a double column template.
Mamabolo said presiding officers helping a blind voter will read out numbers as they line up with the template windows. He said this may not always be in number order.
Source: this article is based on reporting by SAnews.gov.za. Image: GCIS via SAnews.gov.za. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.