PAC fields 2,500 ward candidates for November 4 local elections

The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania will contest a record number of municipalities in South Africa’s local government elections on November 4, 2026, fielding more than 2,500 ward councillor candidates. The party launched its 2026 local government election manifesto in Jabulani, Soweto, on Monday, with party leader Mzwanele Nyhontso presenting the platform.

As SABC News reported on 28 September, the PAC is expanding its footprint for the upcoming polls. The party says its elected officials will be held strictly accountable for matching municipal budgets and Integrated Development Plans to visible, tangible services.

The manifesto identifies municipal corruption and poor service delivery as the central targets of its campaign.

Local government elections determine who sits on the country’s 257 municipal councils, the tier of government closest to residents. Councillors approve municipal budgets, oversee the delivery of water, electricity, refuse collection and sanitation, and set the rates and tariffs that households pay. The Integrated Development Plan is the five-year blueprint that each municipality must produce, setting out what will be built, repaired or extended and where.

For ordinary voters, the PAC’s promise to tie budgets and IDPs to visible services speaks directly to the most common complaint about municipal government: that money is spent, plans are written, and the pipes, lights and roads do not change. The party’s focus on accountability for its own elected representatives is a response to a broader public frustration that has shaped several recent election campaigns.

The PAC’s decision to contest a record number of municipalities marks a significant organisational push. Fielding more than 2,500 ward candidates is a substantial logistical undertaking, requiring nomination fees, candidate vetting, and the capacity to run campaigns across wards that in many cases the party has not previously contested.

Nyhontso leads the party into an election where service delivery and municipal governance are expected to dominate. The PAC’s manifesto launch in Soweto, the country’s largest township, places its campaign squarely in a community where municipal services, housing and infrastructure are daily concerns.

Source: SABC News, LGE 2026 | PAC to contest record number of municipalities