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IEC set to announce final 2026 local election results

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Ongoing: Elections Hot

The Electoral Commission (IEC) will announce the final results at its Results Operations Centre on Sunday evening, and President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to attend. More than 100 municipal councils are hung.

Preparations are under way at the Results Operations Centre ahead of the evening announcement. Police are doing security sweeps at the venue.

A hung council is one where no party wins an outright majority. Parties in those municipalities will need to find partners to govern.

Key facts

Who
Cyril Ramaphosa (President, expected at the Results Centre); Electoral Commission (commission presenting the final election results)
What
Ahead of the evening announcement of final 2026 local government election results, the IEC's Results Operations Centre is preparing and police are doing security sweeps. The article says more than 100 municipal councils are hung.
When
8 November 2026
Where
South Africa
Status
Reported

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The SACP, which contested the local government elections on its own, won 230 municipal seats and says it will set strict conditions before backing the ANC in hung councils. The ANC in Sedibeng says it found more than 32,000 voter records with no residential address in Emfuleni, Midvaal and Lesedi, and it is preparing an Electoral Court challenge.

Earlier, the Electoral Commission said it had received 197 objections by 3pm on Saturday, dismissed 54 and upheld two, and that seat numbers in the provisional results could change. The ANC fell to just over 30% nationally from 45.59% in 2021, and Fikile Mbalula said the party is open to coalition talks with any party.

Projections with 99% of votes counted showed 128 councils would be hung, and the Electoral Commission is due to announce final results at 6pm on Sunday.

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