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IEC says 15.9 million people voted in local elections

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Ongoing: Elections Hot

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said the count includes special votes, and that final results will come only after objections are dealt with. The commission has seven days by law to declare the result.

At a media briefing on Thursday, IEC Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Masego Sheburi said results shown at voting stations are provisional until the commission declares them. IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said a results slip is valid without party agents' signatures if the presiding officer signed it.

The commission received just over 800 complaints by Wednesday night, and about 106 were still open. Sheburi said most complaints were resolved. They mainly said staff at voting stations stopped party agents from watching voting and counting.

As at 9:00am on Thursday, 23,444 of the 66,073 expected results slips were scanned into the results system. Of these, 22,983 were captured, and 16,791 of those had passed independent auditing. The IEC had concluded results in 18 local municipalities.

Mamabolo said capturing was slow because the ballots in all eight metropolitan municipalities were long. The IEC also urged people to verify information that circulates online.

Key facts

Who
Masego Sheburi (IEC Deputy Chief Electoral Officer); Janet Love (IEC Vice Chairperson); Sy Mamabolo (IEC Chief Electoral Officer); Electoral Commission of South Africa (election management body)
What
The IEC said 15.9 million people took part in the 2026 Local Government Elections, including special votes, and that the final results will be declared only after objections are dealt with. It also reported complaints, results-capturing progress and urged verification of information circulating online.
When
5 November 2026
Where
South Africa
Status
Reported

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