Developing story: counting is under way and no official results have been confirmed. This article will be updated.

Counting began at voting stations across South Africa after polls closed at 9pm on Wednesday, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) says the final outcome of the local government elections will be known by the weekend.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said: "We will know the final outcomes of this election by the weekend." Voters who were already in the queue at 9pm were allowed to vote before counting started, the IEC said.

Turnout so far

Preliminary IEC figures showed that 12 million voters had cast ballots by 5pm. More than 29 million people are registered to vote.

  • Gauteng: about 3 million
  • KwaZulu-Natal: about 2.5 million
  • Western Cape: about 1.5 million
  • Eastern Cape: about 1.4 million
  • Limpopo: about 1.1 million
  • Mpumalanga: about 854,900
  • North West: about 702,100
  • Free State: about 588,200
  • Northern Cape: about 299,400

These are preliminary 5pm figures, not final turnout. The IEC has not yet published a final turnout number.

How the count works

Mamabolo said ballots are counted at the voting station where they were cast, in front of party agents, independent candidate agents and accredited observers. Results slips are captured in duplicate, signed by the presiding officer and countersigned by party agents before they are displayed at the station.

The results are then scanned and captured at the local IEC office, where they are verified and independently audited, Mamabolo said. The IEC has said results operations centres allow parties, observers and the media to follow the capturing and verification. Final results must be declared within the prescribed seven-day period.

Our earlier explainer sets out how the results are counted, checked and declared.

Disruptions on the day

The IEC said about 98% of voting stations opened on time, with delays in parts of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal linked to local protests and rain. IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said generators and alternative lighting had been arranged for stations affected by power outages.

In Itsoseng, North West, a transformer serving the area had reportedly not been working since Tuesday and Eskom was repairing it. There were also reports that ballot papers were stolen from a voting station in Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal, and that police were investigating. We have not independently confirmed the details.

What we do not yet know

  • Which parties are leading in any municipality, because no official results had been confirmed when this article was written.
  • The final turnout figure.
  • Whether the reported theft of ballot papers in Hillcrest affects the count at that station.

Treat any claimed results that do not come from the IEC as unconfirmed.