Millions of South Africans made their way to polling stations today as the country held its local government elections, with voting set to close at 21:00 tonight.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported that 12 million voters had cast their ballots by 17:00, indicating a steady flow of citizens exercising their democratic right throughout the day. This comes after a record 1,4 million people cast special votes between 2 and 3 November.
Early morning figures showed a strong start to election day, with 3,5 million voters casting ballots in the first three hours after polling stations opened at 07:00. This represented roughly 12% of the 29,2 million registered voters.
Gauteng province led the early turnout with 895 384 votes cast by 10:00, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 623 380 votes and the Western Cape with 461 264 votes. The smallest turnout was in the Northern Cape, where 93 030 people had voted by mid-morning.
The IEC said voting progressed well across the country’s nearly 24 000 voting stations, despite a few isolated incidents and electricity outages in some areas. Officials deployed generators and alternative lighting to affected stations.
Anyone still in the queue at 21:00 will be allowed to vote, the commission confirmed.
The counting process begins
Once voting stations close tonight, presiding officers will begin the counting process immediately. Sealed ballot boxes will be opened and ballots checked, sorted and counted by contest.
Results will be reconciled and result slips captured in duplicate, signed and displayed at each voting station. These will be photographed or scanned before being captured at local IEC offices.
The commission will verify and externally audit all results before declaring final outcomes within the prescribed seven-day period.
Record registration numbers
The 2026 local government elections saw record numbers, with 29,2 million registered voters – up from 26,2 million in the 2021 municipal elections. Some 620 political parties registered to contest the elections.
In 2021, voter turnout reached 46%, with 12 million votes cast. President Cyril Ramaphosa described today’s turnout as “a historic moment for South Africa’s democracy”, saying the queues across the country made it “a very special and historic day”.
The IEC is investigating the theft of unused ballots and a voting stamp at an eThekwini polling station. A few voting stations in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal opened late due to localised protests and heavy rain.
Results will be available on the NovaNews Results Dashboard, with downloadable reports at national, provincial and municipal levels.
