R3 billion allocated for local government elections
The 2026 Local Government Elections have been allocated just over R3 billion, including a special appropriation of about R1 billion.
The additional funding will support voter registration, logistics and other operational costs.
Budget allocations to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) have increased significantly in election years as it expands its capacity to deliver free and fair elections.
Former IEC Commissioner and Vice Chairperson Terry Tselane says, “Just to open for the registration weekend a few years back it would actually cost about R360 million, just to open all the voting stations, get the infrastructure in place, get the electoral staff to be stationed, and then to give them the stipend for the period that is under review.”
“So it entails a lot because now the technology that gets utilised also is not cheap. It requires a lot of resources. Like, for instance, the voting machine that they’re currently using has cost a lot of money. But apart from that, we’ve got to maintain that fleet of the machines that they actually have,” adds Tselane.
LGE 2026 | Terry Tselane on first day of special voting