PRETORIA, Gauteng — With voter registration now officially closed, the national focus for LGE 2026 has decisively shifted toward election demarcation and its direct impact on communities across the country. Understanding these boundary changes is crucial for the electorate, as they ultimately determine where citizens vote, which ward they belong to, and who represents them at the municipal level.
To unpack the mechanics of ward delimitation and what voters need to know before election day, insights were provided by Michael Sutcliffe, Director of City Insight and former chairperson of the Municipal Demarcation Board.
Municipal Boundaries vs. Ward Delimitation
Ahead of the November elections, Sutcliffe clarified that there are two distinct types of boundary changes: municipal boundary demarcation and ward delimitation.
According to Sutcliffe, outer municipal boundaries—the geographical extent of a municipality—have seen very few changes this election cycle. Adjustments were largely minor and technical, such as incorporating a community just outside a border or adjusting for traditional areas. Consequently, the structural makeup of the country remains the same, with 257 municipalities in total: 44 district municipalities, approximately 205 local municipalities within those districts, and eight metropolitan areas.
What does change in every election cycle are the wards within those municipalities. Electoral authorities calculate a formula to determine the number of councilors required based on the number of registered voters. However, this process highlights vast disparities in ward sizes across the nation.
For example, in smaller municipalities like Richtersveld Local Municipality, a ward might average about 1,000 persons. In stark contrast, in eThekwini, some wards contain as many as 23,000 to 24,000 voters. Sutcliffe noted that these massive wards create significant logistical challenges on election day, pointing to the 2024 elections where large wards near Wits University resulted in long queues and delayed voting. While smaller wards can process voters in an hour, heavily populated wards struggle with bottlenecks.
The Legacy of Apartheid Geography
Beyond logistics, demarcation is deeply intertwined with South Africa’s historical geography. Sutcliffe highlighted that the legacy of apartheid spatial planning remains evident in current ward demographics.
Currently, 82% of the country’s wards have a Black African majority (over 50%). Approximately 9% of wards have a majority of voters historically defined as Coloured, and about 4% to 5% have a White majority.
Population Shifts and the Power of Proportional Representation
Ward boundaries are periodically readjusted to ensure that each ward has roughly the same number of registered voters. Sutcliffe explained that these adjustments are not solely driven by mass migration, but largely by demographic shifts, such as young people coming of voting age and entering the ballot pool in specific urban centers.
A major takeaway from the demarcation process is how it interacts with South Africa’s proportional representation (PR) system. Sutcliffe emphasized that South Africa possesses the “most proportional system in the world,” designed specifically to avoid the “first-past-the-post” disparities seen in other nations.
To illustrate this, Sutcliffe compared the South African system to the United Kingdom’s Labor Party, noting that in the UK, a party can secure 60% of parliamentary seats from just 30% of the popular vote. In South Africa, the constitution mandates that every vote must be of equal value. Even if a dominant party—such as the ANC, the DA, or the IFP—wins a specific ward with an overwhelming 70% or 80% majority, their overall municipal seat allocation is adjusted via the PR system to accurately reflect their total municipal vote share, which might only be 50%.
Addressing Gerrymandering Concerns
A common concern during the redrawing of boundaries is “gerrymandering”—the manipulation of boundaries to favor an incumbent political party at the expense of the opposition.
Recent allegations of this nature include complaints from the DA regarding delimitation in the Gamagara Local Municipality in the Northern Cape, where the opposition argued that boundary shifts only made sense if viewed as an attempt to favor the ANC and the EFF.
When asked how easy it is to engage in gerrymandering in South Africa, Sutcliffe dismissed the notion that true gerrymandering occurs within the current electoral framework. Because of the robust proportional representation system, all votes cast for a party like the DA still translate into PR councilors, regardless of how ward boundaries are drawn.
While there is often a public perception that boundaries are shifted to favor a specific party, Sutcliffe warned that such maneuvers can easily backfire. Incumbent parties may become complacent in “safe” wards, failing to mobilize their base. This resulting drop in voter turnout can ultimately shrink their overall vote share and negatively impact their proportional representation seats.
As LGE 2026 approaches, understanding the intersection of ward delimitation, historical demographics, and proportional representation remains vital for a fully informed electorate.