The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has reported progress in capturing and verifying election results, with political parties beginning to emerge as frontrunners in key municipalities as counting continued into midday on Thursday.
IEC chief executive Sy Mamabolo said voting stations closed at 9pm on Wednesday, with voters who were still in queues at closing time allowed to cast their ballots.
“Following a successful voting process, voting stations closed at 9 pm last night. The commission is satisfied that voters who were in the queues at cut-off time were allowed to vote,” Mamabolo said.
He said counting, tallying, and verification continued throughout the night in the presence of political party agents, independent candidate agents, and accredited observers.
The IEC said the process was designed to reinforce transparency, integrity, and accountability, with results slips subjected to multiple verification measures before being finalised.
By 9am, 23 444 of the 66 073 expected results slips had been scanned into the results system, while 22 983 had been captured. Of those captured, 16 791 had undergone independent auditing.
Results from 18 local municipalities, representing 7% of the total, had been concluded by the time of the briefing.
Mamabolo said the commission was recording a faster pace of capturing than during the 2021 local government elections, when only seven municipalities had been completed at the same time.
The improved pace came despite longer ballot papers, a higher number of contestants and increased voter participation.
“Counting happens at the voting station where the ballots were cast to ensure that every single ballot paper is accounted for at every station and duly recorded,” Mamabolo said.
The IEC said results slips were captured in duplicate in the presence of party agents and observers, who were permitted to photograph the slips. The documents were then transported in tamper-evident envelopes to local capturing sites.
The capturing process includes double-blind data entry, scanning, and independent auditing of all results slips, alongside automated checks for possible anomalies such as excessive voter turnout or discrepancies in party votes at the same voting station.
As the results process continued, provisional figures showed the ANC leading nationally with 32% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Alliance DA at 28.4%.
The MK Party was polling at 6.3%, followed by the EFF at 5.4%. The Freedom Front Plus and Patriotic Alliance were each on 4%, while ActionSA had 3.1% and the Inkatha Freedom Party 2.9%.
In the metros, the DA was leading in Johannesburg with 41.9%, Ekurhuleni with 36.9%, Cape Town with 59.2% and Nelson Mandela Bay with 39.2%.
ActionSA was leading in Tshwane with 25.5%, while the ANC remained ahead in eThekwini and Buffalo City, where it had secured 39% in provisional results. In Mangaung, the DA was leading with 36.3%.
The provisional figures point to a competitive contest in several major urban centres, where coalition negotiations could once again shape municipal leadership. The IEC urged political parties, independent candidates and their supporters to remain patient while counting and results capturing continued.
Mamabolo also cautioned political role-players against spreading unverified information or disinformation about election results, warning that this could create tensions, incite violence and lead to damage to property or injuries.
The outcome will determine the composition of municipal councils and the political negotiations that follow, as parties seek to secure control of municipalities and shape local governance for the next term.