Pretoria:The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has announced that 15.9 million South Africans participated in the 2026 Local Government Elections, including those who cast special votes. The Commission emphasized that preliminary turnout figures and the final results are still under determination.
According to South African Government News Agency, IEC Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Masego Sheburi stated that a detailed breakdown of voter participation, including the number of young and first-time voters, will only be available once the counting process is completed. Over 800 complaints have been received by the Commission, primarily concerning voting station staff allegedly obstructing party agents from observing the voting and counting processes, with most resolved and about 106 complaints remaining open.
Sheburi also highlighted that contestants have until 1700 on Friday to lodge objections that could materially affect the election's declared results. The Commission is committed to announcing the final results once all objections are addressed, complying with the legal timeframe to declare the results. He warned that results displayed at voting stations should be treated as provisional until formally declared by the Commission, as they might be subject to objections leading to recounts.
IEC Vice Chairperson Janet Love urged South Africans to verify information before sharing it, especially on social media, to prevent the spread of unverified election results and misleading claims. The Commission has established a platform to monitor and counter disinformation and is collaborating with major social media platforms to address problematic posts about the electoral process.
IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo noted that the length of ballot papers in metropolitan municipalities has slowed the pace of results capturing. He explained that the long ballots in the eight metros result in longer counting and capturing times. Nonetheless, the absence of party agents' signatures on results slips does not invalidate them if signed by the presiding officer.
The IEC reported that by 0900 on Thursday, 23,444 of the 66,073 expected results slips had been scanned into the results system, with 22,983 captured, and 16,791 of these undergoing independent auditing. Results from 18 local municipalities had been concluded at that stage. The Commission continues to urge patience from political parties, independent candidates, and their supporters as the counting, verification, and results-capturing processes proceed.