IEC Warns of AI-Driven Deepfakes Ahead of 2026 Local Elections

As South Africa gears up for the 2026 Local Government Elections, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has flagged generative artificial intelligence (AI) and hyper-local disinformation campaigns as one of the biggest threats to electoral integrity.

IEC Chairperson Mosotho Moepya warned that the upcoming municipal polls are likely to see a shift from broad national misinformation campaigns to highly targeted ward-level deception powered by generative AI tools.

"The primary challenge of 2026 is the rise of Generative AI and its application in 'hyper-local' contexts. We are seeing a shift from broad national untruths to ward-specific deceptions. As identified by SANEF, we expect a 'flurry of deepfakes' in these municipal elections," Moepya said.

He was speaking at the Disinformation Dialogue 2026: "Countering Disinformation, Safeguarding Local Democracy" in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Hyper-Local Disinformation a Growing Risk

The dialogue, hosted by the Institute of Security Studies in collaboration with the European Union delegation and embassies of Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Flanders State of the Art, focused on the evolving global threat of digital misinformation.

Moepya said election processes most vulnerable to manipulation include:

• The voters' roll

• Transportation of ballot boxes

• Manual vote tallying at polling stations

"Disinformation targets these points because they involve human elements that can be misrepresented," he said.

Unlike national election campaigns, municipal polls create opportunities for tailored falsehoods aimed at specific wards or communities, making them harder to detect and counter.

IEC's 2026 Counter-Disinformation Strategy

In response, the IEC is rolling out a multi-layered 2026 strategy focused on verification, rapid response and transparency.

Key interventions include:

Direct-to-Citizen Verification Tools

Voters will be able to confirm ward boundaries and registration status through zero-rated digital portals, reducing reliance on potentially misleading third-party content.

Rapid-Response Pathways

The Commission is linking community radio stations and youth networks directly to fact-checking hubs to counter false narratives at local level before they spread widely.

'Radical Transparency' to Build Trust

Moepya described the IEC's approach as shifting from a "defensive posture" to one of "radical transparency."

One such initiative is the "News Sausage" approach, encouraging media houses to demonstrate how election results are audited and verified — helping the public understand the process and reducing suspicion and conspiracy theories.

The Commission will also invoke legal instruments such as:

• The Cybercrimes Act

• The Electoral Code of Conduct

to hold accountable those who intentionally spread harmful digital disinformation.

Technology: A Double-Edged Sword

Moepya cautioned that technology can both empower and undermine democracy.

"It can be the tool that disenfranchises a grandmother in a rural village through a viral lie, or it can be the tool that empowers a first-time voter in a bustling township to verify their ballot," he said.

He emphasised that safeguarding electoral integrity requires collaboration beyond the IEC.

"The integrity of our 2026 Local Government Elections does not rest on the IEC alone. It rests on the fact-checker in Johannesburg, the lawmaker in Cape Town, the tech engineer in Silicon Valley, and the EU diplomat in Pretoria," Moepya said.

Independent Testing of Election Technology

To strengthen public confidence, the IEC has subjected its Voter Management Devices (VMDs) and results systems to independent end-to-end testing across the country's 23 292 voting stations.

"We have subjected our VMDs and results systems to independent, end-to-end testing, ensuring that the technology used at voting stations is not a 'black box,' but a glass one," Moepya said.

With generative AI reshaping the information landscape, the IEC's message was clear: the 2026 Local Government Elections will test not only voting systems, but society's ability to defend truth in the digital age.