Developing story: figures are provisional and were issued by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on Thursday. We will update this report as new information is confirmed.

The IEC says results for 65 of the country's 213 municipalities had been fully captured, scanned and audited by Thursday evening, and that the collation of results is expected to be concluded by the weekend. Political parties and candidates have until 5pm today to lodge formal objections that could affect results.

The commission cannot lawfully declare the results before 17:00 today, according to IEC Deputy CEO for Electoral Operations Masego Sheburi. He said the commission has seven days to declare the outcome and will announce it once all objections have been dealt with.

Where results capture stands

IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said that by 17:00 on Thursday more than 60% of the 66,073 expected results had been captured. About 40,202 results slips had been scanned and 32,238 had been independently audited, he said.

Capture rates differed sharply by province, according to the IEC briefing at the National Results Operations Centre in Midrand:

  • Northern Cape: 87% of results captured, with 21 of 26 municipalities complete.
  • Western Cape: 69%, with 14 of 25 municipalities complete.
  • Free State: 64%, with 7 of 19 municipalities complete.
  • Eastern Cape: 60%, with 9 of 33 municipalities complete.
  • Mpumalanga: 52%, with 5 of 17 municipalities complete.
  • KwaZulu-Natal: 37%, with 6 of 44 municipalities complete.
  • North West: 35%, with 2 of 18 municipalities complete.
  • Gauteng: 35%, with none of its nine municipalities complete.
  • Limpopo: 23%, with 1 of 22 municipalities complete.

On Thursday morning the IEC said 18 municipalities had been finalised at the same stage, compared with seven at the equivalent point in the 2021 local government elections.

Complaints and objections

Sheburi said more than 800 complaints had been lodged by contestants by Wednesday night, and about 106 were still outstanding on Thursday. He said most concerned allegations that voting station staff prevented party agents from observing voting and counting.

"Once the commission has dealt with those objections, it will be in a position to indicate when it will announce the final results," Sheburi said. "The Commission does not want to keep the country in angst, and for that reason it will release the result as soon as all objections have been dealt with."

Why the numbers are provisional

Mamabolo urged parties, the media and the public to treat partial results with caution. "If it has not been altered or tampered with, treat it as a provisional result until such time that the commission announces the final result because that result could still be subject to an objection that may lead to a recount and that result changes lawfully," he said.

The IEC said about 15.9 million people took part in the elections, including special votes, out of more than 29 million registered voters. The commission also warned parties and candidates not to declare premature ward victories.

What we do not yet know

  • The exact date and time of the final declaration. The IEC has said only that collation is expected to conclude by the weekend.
  • How many of the outstanding objections could lead to recounts, and where.
  • Final turnout. The IEC says a detailed breakdown will follow after counting and verification are complete.