The African National Congress is moving into a new phase of its campaign for the 2026 Local Government Elections, with the party preparing to announce its preferred mayoral candidates before unveiling its election manifesto in Diepsloot this weekend.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, 19 August, the ANC confirmed two national engagements on consecutive days as it intensifies preparations for the 4 November local government elections.
The party will announce its mayoral candidates on Saturday, 22 August, at the Sandton Convention Centre. It will then launch its 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto on Sunday, 23 August, at Riverside in Diepsloot.
The announcement places local government at the centre of the ANC’s political programme as the party prepares to contest municipalities across the country.
The ANC said the mayoral candidate announcement would introduce the men and women expected to carry its mandate of building what it describes as capable, accountable and responsive local government.
Under South Africa’s municipal system, voters elect councils rather than mayors directly. Municipal councils elect executive mayors after the election. The people announced by political parties are therefore their preferred candidates to lead municipalities if the party secures sufficient council support.
From candidates to a programme for local government
The mayoral announcement will be followed by the launch of the ANC’s election manifesto in Diepsloot on Sunday morning.
According to the ANC, the manifesto has been informed by extensive consultation with communities, an assessment of the implementation of its 2021 Local Government Elections Manifesto and the organisation’s broader objective of strengthening local government and improving the quality of life of South Africans.
The sequencing is politically significant: the party will present the people it wants to lead municipalities before setting out the programme those candidates will be expected to carry.
The ANC is not presenting the manifesto simply as another election document. Its framing places the condition and future of local government at the centre of the coming electoral contest. The party’s 2026 theme identifies the year as the “Year of Decisive Action to Fix Local Government and Transform the Economy”.
That connects the performance of municipalities and the quality of local leadership to the broader question of economic transformation.
For communities, these questions are experienced through the everyday realities of local government: whether services reach households, whether infrastructure is maintained, whether municipalities manage public resources responsibly and whether elected leadership responds to residents.
A test of the ANC’s local government message
The 2026 local government elections will test the ANC’s ability to translate its national political programme into a credible local proposition.
The manifesto launch comes at a moment when South Africans will be looking beyond slogans and asking what local government should deliver, how municipalities should be governed and what kind of leadership can give practical effect to those commitments.
The ANC says its manifesto has been shaped by consultation with communities and by a review of its previous local government commitments. That creates an opportunity for the party to set out not only what it wants to achieve, but how it intends to strengthen the institutional capacity required to achieve it.
The mayoral candidate announcement will add identifiable political leadership to that programme. Those selected will be expected to embody the party’s stated commitment to capable, accountable and responsive local government.
The road to 4 November
The ANC’s weekend programme comes as political parties position themselves for the 4 November elections.
The Democratic Alliance launched its local government election manifesto in Johannesburg on 8 August, placing municipal governance, corruption and service delivery at the centre of its campaign. Other parties have also moved to identify candidates and election offers.
The ANC’s response will now be placed before voters through its manifesto and its slate of mayoral candidates.
For the ANC, the contest will be about more than the performance of individual municipalities. It will also be an argument about the future direction of local government, the capacity of the democratic state and the role of municipalities in improving the material conditions of communities.
The first part of that programme will become clearer on Saturday, when the party introduces the individuals who will carry its mayoral mandate. The second will follow on Sunday, when the organisation places its manifesto before the public.
Key dates
ANC mayoral candidate announcement
- Date: Saturday, 22 August 2026
- Time: 09:00–14:00
- Venue: Sandton Convention Centre
The ANC says space is limited and accreditation for this engagement is restricted to 20 journalists.
ANC 2026 Local Government Elections Manifesto Launch
- Date: Sunday, 23 August 2026
- Time: 08:00
- Venue: Riverside, Diepsloot
The ANC says accreditation will be collected at the respective venues on 22 and 23 August.
The People’s Register will follow both engagements and report on the ANC’s mayoral candidates, manifesto commitments and the political direction emerging from the 2026 local government election campaign.
Sources and further reading
- ANC statement: mayoral candidate announcement and 2026 manifesto launch, 19 August 2026
- ANC statement: centralised mayoral candidate nominations and selection process
- ANC 2021 Local Government Elections Manifesto
- SAnews: IEC electoral programme and 4 November 2026 election date
- DA statement referring to its Johannesburg manifesto launch
Graphic: The People’s Register. Event information from the ANC’s official statement dated 19 August 2026. Earlier ANC artwork showing 07:00 was not used because the latest written advisory lists 08:00.