At midnight on Wednesday the elections results showed that the ruling African National Congress is in poll position to take the majority in the 2009 national elections.
Early results show the ANC gaining 7 865 (54,8%) of the 14 551 votes counted so far. As expected the Democratic Alliance was in second place with 3 887 (27,2%) of the votes.
The roles of the two leading parties are however reversed in the Western Cape where the DA was standing at 61,9% of the provincial vote, with the ANC trailing at 16,5%.
Newcomer Congress of the People has thus far taken 7,46% (1 069 votes) of the national vote. Patricia de Lille’s Independent Democrats was standing on 3,06% at midnight, with the Inkatha Freedom Party at 1,03%.
The United Democratic Movement has managed to garner 1,1% (171 votes) in the national vote.
At midnight the ANC was leading in six of the nine provinces, with the DA ahead in the Northern Cape and Western Cape. No results have yet been released for Limpopo.
After counting down to 10, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chief executive Pansy Tlakula switched on the election scoreboards at the IEC centre in Pretoria, which showed the DA leading the ANC with 52 votes to 50.
Shortly afterwards DA leader Helen Zille was posing in front of the results, showing thumbs-up to a small group of journalists and photographers.
The first published results emanated from three rural polling stations — two in the Northern Cape (Fraserburg and Groblershoop) and Lady Frere in the Eastern Cape.