Developing story: all figures are provisional. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is expected to declare the official results on Sunday evening.
With counting almost complete, provisional figures show the ANC on about 31% of the national vote, the DA on about 25% and the MK Party on about 10%, with more than 60% of councils hung.
The provisional national picture
Two separate provisional tallies of the national vote put the ANC at about 31%, the DA between 24.6% and 25%, the MK Party between 9.6% and 10%, the EFF on about 6%, ActionSA between 5.6% and 6%, and the IFP between 4.7% and 5%. One tally also shows the Freedom Front Plus on about 3% and the SACP on about 2%.
One of the tallies put counting at about 98.6% of voting districts on Saturday morning.
A hung-council map
Of the councils where counting is complete, 122 of 191 were hung in one tally and 109 of 175 certified in another, which is above 60% in both. In 2021, 66 councils were hung, the IEC’s results then showed.
In Nelson Mandela Bay, the DA has 53 of 120 seats and needs 61 for a majority. In Mangaung, the ANC has 36 of 101 seats and needs 51.
How the parties are reading it
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party will not be in a hurry to form coalitions and that opposition is an option. The MK Party has lodged an objection over eThekwini and wants the IEC to freeze processing of contested ballots. The SACP says its 2.3% share confirms a national footprint.
Leaders of the ANC, EFF, ActionSA, the IFP and the Freedom Front Plus were at the IEC’s results centre in Midrand ahead of the declaration.
What we do not yet know
The figures differ slightly between tallies and none is final. The IEC has not yet published certified national shares, and it is not yet clear how many objections will be resolved before the declaration. Coalition arrangements in hung councils will only become clear after the declaration.
