Ekurhuleni is divided into 112 wards, and a total of 224 councillors make up the council – of both elected (112 ward representatives) and proportional (112 councillors) representation. Each ward councillor chairs a ward committee as part of the Ward Participatory System that brings participation down to community level. New ward committees are elected after local government elections, which take place every five years.

Ward councillors play a central role in the communication process between the communities they represent and the Council, reporting back regularly through ward meetings and assisting the community in identifying needs and priority areas of development which feed into the municipality's planning processes.