12 million South Africans have voted with two hours to go, Gauteng leads the count

About 12 million voters had cast their ballots by 5pm on Wednesday, with just under two hours left before voting stations close at 9pm in the 2026 Local Government Elections, the Electoral Commission of South Africa said.

Gauteng recorded the highest number of voters at three million, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 2.5 million, the Western Cape with 1.5 million and the Eastern Cape with 1.4 million. Limpopo recorded 1.1 million voters, Mpumalanga 854 901, North West 702 133, the Free State 588 237 and the Northern Cape 299 381.

The figures are preliminary. The commission’s chief electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo, said voting had progressed well across the country despite a few isolated incidents, and that the commission was encouraged by the turnout at many voting stations.

Mamabolo said voters who are in the queue at their registered voting station by 9pm will not be turned away, even if the process runs past the official closing time.

“This means that voters who are in the queue by 9pm will not be turned away. We, however, encourage voters not to leave it until the last minute, but to use the remaining time to visit voting stations,” he said.

For stations in areas experiencing electricity outages, the commission said generators and alternative lighting have been arranged so that counting can proceed without unnecessary disruption.

Counting begins at each voting station shortly after voting closes. Ballot papers are counted where they were cast, in the presence of political party agents, independent candidate agents and accredited observers.

Mamabolo set out the sequence: sealed ballot boxes are opened and ballot papers checked for the commission’s security stamp, then sorted and counted separately for each contest, namely the proportional representation ballot, the ward candidate ballot and, where applicable, the district council PR ballot.

After the count, results for each contest are reconciled against the ballot papers received, issued, unused, spoilt and counted at that station. Results slips are captured in duplicate, signed by the presiding officer and countersigned by party agents before being displayed at the voting station once counting and tallying are complete. Party agents may photograph the signed slips.

Results are then scanned and captured at local IEC offices, where they undergo verification and independent external auditing. The Results Operations Centres give parties, independent candidates, observers and the media a view of that capturing, verification and processing.

Once counting, capturing and verification are complete and outstanding queries resolved, the commission will declare the final results and announce the allocation of seats in municipal councils within the prescribed seven-day period.

The commission thanked the parties and independent candidates taking part, particularly those represented through the National Political Liaison Committee, the Provincial Political Liaison Committees and the Local Political Liaison Committees, which it said provided a platform for continuous engagement, consultation and resolution of issues during the process. It also thanked voters, election officials, security agencies, observers, the media and other stakeholders.

This account is drawn from the government news agency’s summary of the commission’s briefing on Wednesday evening, not from the full record of the briefing. SAnews (South African Government News Agency) published it at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/voters-urged-use-remaining-time-cast-their-ballots.