The Northern Cape is leading the capturing of results in the 2026 local government elections, with 87% of results captured as of 5pm. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported steady progress in its counting, verification, and auditing processes countrywide. IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo expressed satisfaction with the progress made, highlighting that more than 60% of the 66,073 results had been captured by 5pm.
According to Mamabolo, the Western Cape is in second place with 69% of results captured, followed by the Eastern Cape at 60%, and the Free State at 64%. Mpumalanga had captured 52% of its results, while KwaZulu-Natal stood at 37%. The North West and Gauteng were both at 35%, and Limpopo was trailing at 23%. The IEC reported that about 40,202 results slips had been scanned, and 32,238 had undergone independent auditing as part of the verification and quality assurance processes.
The IEC's verification and quality assurance processes are designed to ensure the accuracy, transparency, and integrity of the results. Mamabolo emphasized that the commission salutes the thousands of men and women working to finalize the capturing and auditing of results. At municipal level, 65 of the country's 213 municipalities, representing 31%, had completed the capturing, scanning, and auditing processes.
The Northern Cape is leading in municipal completion, with 21 of its 26 municipalities completed, representing 81%. The Western Cape followed with 14 of 25 municipalities completed (56%), while the Free State had completed seven of its 19 municipalities (37%). In the Eastern Cape, nine of the 33 municipalities had completed the process (27%), compared with five of 17 in Mpumalanga (29%).
KwaZulu-Natal had completed six of its 44 municipalities (14%), the North West two of 18 (11%), and Limpopo one of 22 (5%). Gauteng was the only province yet to complete the process in any municipality, with none of its nine municipalities having reached completion at the time of the briefing. Mamabolo cautioned that the figures remained provisional until objections material to an election had been finalized.
The IEC remains committed to finalizing the results as expeditiously as possible while ensuring that all prescribed verification and quality assurance processes are rigorously followed. The commission urges political parties, independent candidates, the media, and members of the public to exercise caution when interpreting partial results and to rely on officially verified results published by the commission.
The results collation process is anticipated to be concluded by the weekend. The IEC's commitment to accuracy, transparency, and integrity in the results is expected to ensure a credible outcome. The commission's efforts to finalize the results are ongoing, with thousands of personnel working to ensure the process is completed efficiently.
Key points
- The Northern Cape leads with 87% of results captured in the 2026 local government elections.
- The IEC has captured more than 60% of the 66,073 results by 5pm.
- The results collation process is expected to be concluded by the weekend.
