The ANC held a narrow national lead in early local election results on Thursday morning, IOL reported. The DA was ahead in major metros such as Johannesburg, Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay.
Results from Wednesday’s Local Government Elections started coming in as counting went on across the country. The outcome will decide who runs municipalities for the next five years.
Voting stations closed at 9pm on Wednesday, November 4. According to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), 12 million South Africans had voted by 5pm that day.
In Mfuleni, Cape Town, a long queue of voters formed outside Bardale Primary School. IEC officials worked late into the night to help the people still waiting after 9pm.
The IEC opened a criminal case after a ballot box and a security pack were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School in KwaNyuswa. The school is in the eThekwini Metro.
The commission is also looking into an overnight break-in at Amahlongwa Community Hall in KwaZulu-Natal. Three ballot boxes and other voting equipment were taken. The IEC said special voting was not affected, because ballot papers and stamps were kept in safe storage.
Before the vote, an Ipsos Khayabus Pulse of the People survey found that no party had majority support nationally. The ANC had 30% support among registered voters who picked a party on a test ballot.
The DA followed on 28% in that survey. The MK Party had 12% and the EFF had 10%. The numbers point to more coalition deals in municipalities.
In eThekwini, the MK Party said it was getting ready for the chance to take control of the city and its R75 billion budget. The final result and any coalition talks were still to come.
Security was a concern during the campaign. According to NATJOINTS, police recorded 20 murders of political representatives, party members and supporters during the election period. Seven people were arrested over the killings.
NATJOINTS said a further 139 election-related criminal cases were opened across the country, leading to 48 arrests. The SANDF was placed on standby to help police in hotspots if needed.
In KwaZulu-Natal, thousands of officers were sent to guard more than 4,300 voting stations, results centres and other sites. The province has more than 5.8 million registered voters in 54 municipalities.
The Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change found 79 possibly harmful social media posts over seven days. These included claims of vote rigging and calls to confront foreign nationals at voting stations. The group said its findings did not prove any planned action or coming violence.
Special voting also had some problems. The IEC said more than 780,000 special votes were cast on the first day, despite delays at some stations. In Cape Town, more than 200 stations reportedly had delays because of ballot paper shortages.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.