South Africa's IEC urges calm as vote counting continues

Johannesburg: The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on Thursday called for calm and patience as vote counting and verification continued following Wednesday's local government elections, which were conducted largely peacefully despite some localised disruptions.

Sy Mamabolo, chief electoral officer of the IEC, briefed the media on Thursday morning on the progress of the vote-counting and results-processing operations.

He said that ballots were being counted at voting stations, while election results were being captured, transmitted and verified as part of the process to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the results, Xinhua News Agency reported.

"The counting, tallying and verification process continued throughout the night in the presence of political party agents, independent candidate agents and accredited observers, reinforcing the transparency, integrity and accountability of the electoral process," Mamabolo said.

"The Commission appeals to political parties, independent candidates and their supporters to exercise patience and allow the counting and results-capturing processes to unfold," he added.

Mamabolo also urged political candidates and other stakeholders to refrain from circulating unverified information or disinformation about the election results, warning that such actions could create unnecessary tensions, incite violence and potentially lead to property damage and injuries.

Early results released by the IEC on Thursday showed the ruling African National Congress (ANC) narrowly ahead of its main opposition rival, the Democratic Alliance (DA), in the national proportional representation vote.

With about 33 per cent of the votes counted, the ANC had secured around 32 per cent of the vote, compared with approximately 28 per cent for the DA, according to preliminary figures reported on Thursday. The results remain provisional and could change significantly as more voting districts complete the counting and verification process.

The early results also indicated strong regional performances by several parties. The ANC maintained leads in a number of provinces, while the DA was ahead in Gauteng and the Western Cape. The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party was leading in KwaZulu-Natal.

As these are local government elections, the composition of individual municipal councils, rather than the national vote share alone, will determine which parties govern at the local level. Where no party wins an outright majority, coalition negotiations are likely to play a decisive role in forming municipal administrations.

The 2026 local government elections represent a significant political test for the ANC amid years of declining electoral support. In the 2021 municipal elections, the party received 45.59 per cent of the national vote, falling below the 50-per cent threshold for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994.

The ANC subsequently lost its parliamentary majority in the 2024 national and provincial elections, securing approximately 40 per cent of the national vote and prompting the formation of a government of national unity.

The IEC is expected to complete the counting, verification and auditing processes before announcing the final results and the allocation of seats in municipal councils.

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