Elections: First council meetings in KZN hung municipalities delayed

The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) has directed municipalities with hung councils to postpone their inaugural council meetings by a week to allow for further coalition negotiations following the 2026 local government elections.

In Municipal Governance and Administration Circular No. 28 of 2026, addressed to all municipal managers, the department instructed affected municipalities that had scheduled their first council meetings for next week to move them to the week beginning 23 November 2026.

KZN MUNICIPALITIES WITH OUTRIGHT MAJORITIES TO PROCEED

The circular, issued on Wednesday, 11 November, said the postponement was necessary to ensure the efficient processing of inaugural council meetings and allow for planning by relevant stakeholders, including the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), Cogta and the security cluster.

Municipal managers who had already issued notices for meetings scheduled before 23 November were instructed to withdraw them and issue new notices as soon as reasonably possible. They were also required to inform the department of the changes.

However, municipalities where political parties secured outright majorities will proceed with their inaugural council meetings according to the scheduled dates.

These include uMngeni Municipality on 13 November at 09:00, Nongoma and Ulundi on 17 November, Msinga on 18 November, and Greater Kokstad and Nkandla on 19 November.

Mthonjaneni, Impendle and Richmond are scheduled to hold their inaugural meetings on 20 November.

UPDATE: KZN CoGTA has directed the eight municipalities with clear winners to go ahead and convene their first sittings to elect Speakers, Mayors, Deputy Mayors and Council Committees – KZN Tonight Podcast pic.twitter.com/FkTPmMcStj

— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) November 11, 2026

The circular was issued following the announcement and gazetting of the 2026 local government election results by the IEC.

The inaugural council meetings are an important step in establishing the new municipal administrations, as newly elected councillors are expected to take office and councils begin the process of electing their leadership and setting up their governance structures.

In municipalities where no political party has secured an outright majority, coalition negotiations will determine which parties work together to form municipal governments.