South African municipal elections, 2016

The 2016 South African municipal elections will be held on August 3, 2016 for all districts and local municipalities in all 9 provinces. Municipal elections are held every five years, and the previous municipal elections were held in 2011.

The 2016 municipal elections will elect the members of the district, metropolitan and local municipal councils, who, in turn, will elect the mayors of the municipalities to office.

Municipal demarcation

South Africa's Municipal Demarcation Board has announced changes to certain ward demarcations and municipal boundaries, following Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan suggesting the redrawing of boundaries to make municipalities more sustainable and financially viable. There are currently 34 cases that affect 90 municipalities. The Democratic Alliance has cried foul, with MP James Selfe announcing the DA would take the Board to court over what it says is clear party-motivated and irrational boundary determinations.

Target municipalities

The two major political parties have announced their targeted municipalities for the 2016 election. The African National Congress, in addition to maintaining control of certain municipalities, have also focused on taking back control of the City of Cape Town. The Democratic Alliance has announced its "big five" plan to target the five municipalities of Tshwane, Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Tlokwe for takeover and Cape Town for an increased majority.

Nelson Mandela Bay Metro

Danny Jordaan was appointed Mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in 2015 and is expected to run in the 2016 election for the ANC. On April 13, 2015, the Democratic Alliance selected former DA Parliamentary Leader Athol Trollip as its mayoral candidate.

Johannesburg

Incumbent Mayor Parks Tau is likely to represent the African National Congress in the election as its mayoral candidate, but some ANC members have suggested Geoff Makhubo as a potential alternative. The Democratic Alliance selected businessman Herman Mashaba over Wits professor and DA councillor Rabelani Dagada as its mayoral candidate on January 16, 2016. The EFF has yet to formally announce a mayoral candidate, but has deployed Floyd Shivambu to build EFF election machinery in Johannesburg for the upcoming election.

Tshwane

Incumbent Mayor Sputla Ramokgopa is a member of the African National Congress, but the ANC has not decided on a mayoral candidate for the 2016 election. On September 5, 2015, the Democratic Alliance selected MPL Solly Msimanga over 2011 mayoral candidate Brandon Topham and councillor Bronwyn Engelbrecht.

Cape Town

Incumbent DA Mayor Patricia de Lille was renominated in January 2016 as her party's mayoral candidate.

Importance

• In December 2017, the African National Congress (ANC), which is the majority party in most of the municipalities, will hold its 57th National Conference, in which the party will elect new incumbents for its National Executive Committee. It will be the second National Conference since Thabo Mbeki stepped down as president of South Africa in 2009. It has been suggested, however, that the ANC has lost support, especially in metropolitan areas, since the last round of elections.
• It will be the first held since Helen Zille, the leader of the Official Opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), stepped down from being leader of the party since 2007, replaced by Mmusi Maimane.
• It will be the first municipal election test for the White Afrikaner Nationalist Front National (South Africa) party since it was founded on December 2013.