JOHANNESBURG — South Africa's election picture is becoming clearer as vote counting enters a critical phase, with coalition negotiations expected to shape governance in several municipalities.
By 6am on Friday, with 70 percent of votes captured nationally, the African National Congress remained in the lead with 31.89 percent, followed by the Democratic Alliance with 24.64 percent.
The uMkhonto weSizwe Party continued its strong showing on 8.96 percent, while the Economic Freedom Fighters stood at 6.16 percent.
Key battlegrounds
KwaZulu-Natal remains the key battleground, with the MK Party leading the provincial race, and at least ten councils headed for hung outcomes.
The Northern Cape has become the first province to complete its count, while the DA looks set to retain outright control of the Western Cape.
As counting progresses across the remaining provinces, attention is shifting from the ballot box to the coalition negotiations that could determine who governs South Africa's municipalities over the next five years.
IEC commitment
Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa Chairperson Mosotho Moepya says the Commission remains committed to finalising the results as soon as possible, while ensuring that verification and assurance processes are followed.
He said it is anticipated that the results collation process will be concluded by the weekend.
Moepya also urged political parties, independent candidates, the media, and members of the public to exercise caution when interpreting partial results and to rely on officially verified results published by the Commission.
The IEC has successfully resolved over 1,000 operational and electoral complaints using its newly upgraded Issue Tracker, a system that handled cases logged from the start of special voting until the deadline for lodging electoral complaints and objections.
