Pretoria - The Electoral Commission (IEC) says it is on course to announce the 2016 Local Government Election Results within the specified period.
In terms of the Electoral Commission Act, the commission must declare results within seven days after elections.
“We are on track and well within this timeframe,” said IEC CEO Mosotho Moepya on Thursday, when updating the nation of the vote counting process.
Although South Africans are eagerly awaiting the outcome of these elections, Moepya appealed for patience from all stakeholders to allow the process to follow due diligence and accuracy.
As of 11am, 77.8% of the local government election results had been captured.
“Following the capture process, the results are then subjected to independent audit verification before being finalised.
“The results slip is also scanned so that it can be compared to the results on the system. This process is now underway in all provinces and will continue until all results have been finalised,” Moepya said.
The process was almost completed for Northern Cape with 99% of results finalised, according to the IEC on their regular media briefing on the vote counting process.
Moepya said the only outstanding results in the Northern Cape were few wards of the Sol Plaatjie Municipality.
The Western Cape was following closely behind with 84% completed, the Eastern Cape with almost 80% completed and the Free State with 74% complete.
In Mpumalanga, 60% of results were complete, while both KwaZulu-Natal and the North West reported 55% complete.
Gauteng and Limpopo had completed approximately 47% of results.
The ruling ANC is leading the national votes with 66.03% followed by DA with 20.66% and the EFF with 4.85%.
In Gauteng, ANC stood at 43.42%, DA at 41.69% and EFF at 9.56%.
The DA was leading in the Western Cape with 63.57%, ANC 25.5% and EFF 2.63%.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC is at 56.34% followed by the IFP at 29.14% and DA with 8.81%.
In the Eastern Cape, the ANC stood at 66.03%, DA at 20.66% and EFF 4.85%.
IEC thanks voters
The Electoral Commission thanked the millions of voters who braved the cold, windy weather to make their mark and have their say in the 2016 Municipal Elections.
So far, data shows that over 59.29% of the voters turned out to vote in what has been labelled the most contested elections since the dawn of democracy. Moepya said this is slightly more than what they had in 2011.
“The Electoral Commission is proud that once again South Africans have voted peacefully, patiently and passionately,” he said.
The commission was also grateful for the dedication of nearly 200 000 election officials who worked from very early yesterday morning to very early this morning in many cases to complete the voting and counting process as well as party agents and observers who oversee the process to ensure its integrity.
With regards to incidents, Moepya said they have noted the reports of a disruption at the Johannesburg results centre early today.
Tempers frayed as the capture of results was delayed in the area.
“The Electoral Commission deployed the Vice Chairperson and the Provincial Electoral Officer to the centre and the situation was quickly resolved,” said Moepya, adding that the commission was not aware of any results slips which have gone missing in Johannesburg. - SAnews.gov.za
