The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on Wednesday launched its 2026 campaign logo and tagline for the upcoming local government elections: ‘Get up. Show Up. Vote’.

Speaking during the launch in Midrand, IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission’s logo and corresponding tagline was a call to action and an abiding reminder about the country’s constitutional ethos.

“It speaks to the enduring strengths of our democracy and the responsibility that rests with every citizen. Our democratic system does not exist in abstraction, it comes alive when people rise, participate and make their voices heard through the ballot,” he stated.

The logo and tagline signal the start of an intensified phase of preparations by the IEC for the forthcoming local government elections.

Last month the commission announced a nationwide voter registration weekend would take place on June 20 and 21, ahead of the upcoming local government elections, the date for which has yet to be announced.

As party of the preparations, he said the commission would conduct a general voter registration weekend with about 24 000 registration points scheduled to open across the country.

Mamabolo said the opening of registration points would ensure that every eligible South African had an accessible opportunity to register, update their details and prepare to vote.

The IEC reminded all eligible South Africans to register to vote where they ordinarily reside.

The municipal council term expires on November 1 and the general elections will fall between November 2 and the end of January 2027.

Mamabolo announced that the commission was in the process of finalising the recruitment and training of about 70 000 registration staff.

“In essence we are placing emphasis on supervisory experience for key leadership roles in the voting stations, such as presiding and deputy presiding officers. At the same time, we remain firmly committed to upholding employment equity imperatives across all other categories of electoral staff, this will include unemployed people, and persons with disability,” he explained.

The commission was also strengthening its technological platform and systems, with Mamabolo announcing that the commission was about to conclude an upgrade to modernise and render current technological platforms for the delivery of elections.

He explained that this upgrade included the necessary security reinforcement to contend with ever-evolving cyberthreats.

He also pointed out that the IEC’s 40 000 voter management devices (VMD) had undergone mandatory maintenance, explaining that the suboptimal application coding which affected VMD performance in the previous general elections had now been redressed to further ensure reliability and public confidence.

Mamabolo noted that the IEC’s framework indicates that candidates’ nominations are likely to close towards the end of July, anticipating surpassing the 100 000-mark in term of prospective candidates for the elections.