President Cyril Ramaphosa said the voter turnout in the 2026 Local Government Elections was a historic moment for South Africa. He spoke after casting his vote in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Ramaphosa voted with First Lady Dr Tshepo Motsepe at Hyde Park High School. According to SAnews, millions of South Africans went to voting stations to elect their local representatives.
“This is a historic day in the life of our beloved country, South Africa. The turnout of our people, as one looks at the TV screens, the queues that are all over the country just makes this a very special and historic day,” Ramaphosa said.
The President linked the turnout to the Freedom Charter. The charter declares that “the people shall govern”.
“This is democracy at work, and this is what our people want to see,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the number of people voting should give South Africans confidence in the country’s democratic processes. He said this was so despite the problems communities face.
He admitted that municipalities across the country still have problems. He said the government wants to rebuild local government and improve service delivery.
“I have seen the challenges that we face at local government level, but we, as government, are determined to rebuild our local government structure to ensure that what was promised as a better life for our people, as we articulated in our National Development Plan, will become a reality,” he said.
The President said he expected the newly elected councillors to be more committed to serving communities. He said this would apply to councillors from all parties.
“A new crop of councillors is going to come through now, and I am confident that from all parties, they will be more committed to serving our people,” he said.
Ramaphosa said new councils would be sworn in during the coming days. He said this would start a new chapter for local government, with a focus on better governance and services.
He also called on registered voters who had not yet voted to go to the polls. He said voting rights come with duties as citizens.
“To those who are watching, who have not yet gone out to vote, all I can say is, go out and vote. You are a resident, you are a citizen of this country,” he said.
The President pointed to the large number of parties and candidates taking part in the elections. He said this made the vote stand out from past local elections.
“My view is that we’ve never really, in years, had a Local Government Election like this, where we have so many parties, so many South Africans interested in representing our people,” Ramaphosa said.
He asked the media to keep encouraging South Africans to vote, according to SAnews.
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.