**The 2026 South African municipal elections on 4 November will determine Ekurhuleni’s next council, which selects the executive mayor by mid-November.** Recent polling shows the DA narrowly ahead of the ANC at 31% to 29%, with MKP, EFF, and ActionSA splitting the remainder and no party positioned for an outright majority. This fragmented outcome keeps coalition negotiations central, elevating candidates such as ActionSA’s Xolani Khumalo, ANC figures Jongizizwe Dlabathi and Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, DA’s Khathutshelo Rasilingwane, and EFF’s Nthabiseng Tshivenga. Service-delivery shortfalls, internal ANC list disputes, and a crowded field of over 60 parties sustain the even market pricing, with any post-election alliance or surprise swing in voter turnout among key blocs likely to shift probabilities ahead of the council vote.