SOUTH AFRICA — The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has confirmed that 15.9 million citizens participated in the 2026 South Africa Local Government Elections, as the official vote-counting and results-capturing processes continue across the country.
IEC Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Masego Sheburi noted that a detailed breakdown of voter participation, including youth and first-time voters, will be provided once the counting process is fully concluded. “We can indicate that at this rate, 15.9 million South Africans participated both during special votes, as well as during the elections yesterday,” Sheburi stated during a Thursday media briefing.
Addressing electoral irregularities, Sheburi reported that the Commission received just over 800 complaints by Wednesday night. The majority of these allegations involved voting station staff allegedly blocking party agents from observing the voting and counting processes. While most issues have been resolved, approximately 106 complaints remain open. Sheburi clarified that these complaints are distinct from formal objections handled by presiding officers at the voting stations.
Contestants have until 17:00 on Friday to lodge objections that could materially alter declared results. Sheburi emphasized that final results will only be announced after these objections are processed. “The Commission, as we indicated yesterday, has seven days lawfully to declare the result,” Sheburi explained, adding that the IEC aims to release outcomes as quickly as possible to prevent public anxiety. However, he noted that the Commission cannot lawfully declare results before 17:00 on Friday.
Addressing rumors and premature victory posters circulating for specific wards, Sheburi cautioned that results displayed at voting stations are strictly provisional. He explained that results slips are produced in duplicate following the count; one is transported to a capturing site, while the other remains at the station for public viewing. “If it has not been altered or tampered with, treat it as a provisional result, until such time that the Commission announces the final result,” Sheburi said, noting that outcomes could still change if objections trigger a lawful recount.
IEC Vice Chairperson Janet Love urged the public to verify information before sharing it on social media to combat the rapid spread of unverified results and misleading claims. Love highlighted the Real411 platform, established in collaboration with civil society and media organizations, to monitor and counter disinformation. The Commission is also actively engaging major social media companies to address problematic posts regarding the electoral process.
“We have urged people and continue to urge people to forward posts that they wish to get clarity on, or that they regard as disinformation to the Real411 platform,” Love stated, warning citizens against sharing content intended to mislead or cause mischief.
IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo explained that the physical length of ballot papers in the eight metropolitan municipalities has impacted the pace of the count. “The reality of the situation is that in all the metros, the ballots were quite long. Now, the practical implications of that is it takes longer to count. It will similarly take longer to capture,” Mamabolo noted. He also clarified that results slips remain valid even if party agents fail to sign them, provided the presiding officer has signed the document.
Providing a progress update as of 09:00 on Thursday, the Commission reported that 23,444 of the 66,073 expected results slips had been scanned into the system, with 22,983 successfully captured. Of those captured, 16,791 had undergone independent auditing. At that time, results from 18 local municipalities had been fully concluded.
The IEC continues to urge political parties, independent candidates, and their supporters to exercise patience as the verification and capturing processes proceed, and to refrain from circulating unverified information regarding the election outcomes.
