On Thursday morning, the IEC’s chief officer, Mosotho Moepya, gave an update on the results captured so far, and gave a stern warning about the spread of misinformation.
“As of 11am today, 77.8% of results had been captured,” Moepya said at a press briefing at the IEC’s national results operation centre in Pretoria.
According to the IEC’s update, the proccess of finalising results for each province was as of 11am:
- Nothern Cape: 99% complete
- Western Cape: 84% complete
- Eastern Cape: 80% complete
- Free State: 74% complete
- Mpumalanga: 60% complete
- KZN: 55% complete
- North West: 55% complete
- Gauteng: 47% complete
- Limpopo: 47% complete
Moepya also touched on rumours and the spread of misinformation, saying: “Hoaxes and misinformation must not be allowed to undermine the confidence in the outcome of the elections”.
His statement came after talk circulated on social media that some voting stations had been closed early. Moepya commended party agents for fulfilling their duties responsibly and allowing the presiding officers at voting stations to complete their work.
Moepya also addressed reports of chaos at the Johannesburg results centre, saying that the situation had been handled swiftly and the results had not been compromised.
“The capture of results is centralised in Johannesburg and delays occurred early today when large numbers of presiding officers converged in a short space of time to deliver their results and the situation was quickly resolved,” he explained.
“The Electoral Commission is not aware of any results slips which have gone missing in Johannesburg.”
Despite the grim weather on Wednesday, voter turnout is slightly higher this year than in the previous election. Moepya said results suggested that voter turnout so far is at 52.9%, but it’s still early days in the process. Results of municipalities with small populations had so far been captured, but the big municipalities with higher population would come later.
With more than 60% of the final results from voting districts tallied, the ANC is currently in the lead nationally with the most votes. The DA has, however, so far taken the lead in some of the big metros, including: the City of Johannesburg, the City of Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay.