(David Harrison/M&G)
Around 2.9-million votes had been counted before 8am on Thursday morning.
South Africans went to the polls on Wednesday to elect the sixth democratic administration in a day marred by bad weather, protests and worrying potential irregularities.
While it is too early to determine the final performance of each party, as only small voting district results are in, the ANC tops the leader-board at the Electoral Commission of South Arica Results Operation Centre in Pretoria, with 53.1%, the Democratic Alliance (DA) with 27.8% and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on 7.6%.
The EFF is followed by the Freedom Front Plus, with 3.7% of the vote and the IFP with 1.4%.
Following reports of people voting more than once, the IEC on Wednesday night issued a statement assuring voters of the integrity of the voting process.
Two potential cases of “double voting” had been brought to the attention of the commission, in which voters were allowed to cast more than one vote at two different polling stations.
“The commission views these allegations in the most serious light and has launched investigations into these incidents,” the IEC statement said.
The IEC said as part of finalising the results, it would assess data from its scanners, forms filled out by voters when voting outside their districts as well as the voters roll to identify risks.
“Where evidence is found to support electoral fraud, the IEC will firstly quarantine the results of the affected voting districts and secondly will pursue criminal charges against the perpetrators.
“The Electoral Commission will not allow the potential misconduct of one or two individuals — be they voters or election officials — to taint the overall outcome of these elections,” the commission said.
The IEC will provide an update on the counting process at 11am on Thursday.