Developing story: counting is under way and no official final results have been confirmed. Turnout figures are preliminary and may change.

About 14.5 million people had voted in the local government elections by the time voting stations closed at 9pm on Wednesday, according to figures reported from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), and the commission hopes to declare final results by the weekend.

The turnout picture

The 14.5 million figure is made up of about 13 million votes cast on election day and about 1.5 million special votes cast on 2 and 3 November. The IEC's earlier preliminary figures showed 12 million ballots cast by 5pm on Wednesday, with more than 29 million people registered to vote. On those numbers, turnout was roughly half of registered voters, by our own calculation. The IEC has not yet published a final turnout percentage.

At 5pm, the preliminary provincial figures were about 3 million votes in Gauteng, 2.5 million in KwaZulu-Natal and 1.5 million in the Western Cape.

Why the IEC wants results by the weekend

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo has said the commission expects to know the final outcome by the weekend. Declaring results by then, the IEC has indicated, would give certainty, allow municipalities to arrange first council meetings and give parties time to negotiate coalitions. By law, the IEC has up to seven days after the election to declare the final results and the allocation of council seats.

What is confirmed about the count

Counting began at voting stations after polls closed. Early returns put the ANC and the DA close together, but only a small share of voting districts had been counted when those numbers were compiled, and public results trackers currently show different counts of how many districts are in. We are therefore not publishing party shares until the IEC's own data confirms them. Treat any claim of a winner, or of a "final" result, as unconfirmed until the IEC declares it.

What we do not yet know

  • The final turnout percentage.
  • Final party shares and the allocation of seats in each council.
  • How many councils will be hung, and what coalition talks will follow.
  • Whether any party will lodge formal objections, which must be filed by 5pm on Friday 6 November.