As vote counting continues for the provincial and national elections on Thursday, early results show that the DA could hang on to power in the Western Cape.
The elections concluded on Wednesday, with over 27-million South African voters participating in the democratic process.
In the 1 572 voting districts counted in the Western Cape so far, the DA has emerged as the front-runner, securing the majority of the votes.
The ANC follows closely in second place, with the Patriotic Alliance (PA) in third place in the early stages of counting.
By 1.30pm on Thursday, the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) results showed that the DA had amassed 51.17%, the ANC 20.45%, and the PA had garnered 11.09% of the votes.
Announcement of results
The IEC is expected to release the results on Sunday.
“The commission plans to release the result this time around on the fourth day, not because we are not prepared, but because we want to factor in the third ballot to deal with the 50% additional work imposed by the third ballot,” IEC deputy chief electoral officer Masego Sheburi said.
Political analyst Sipho Seepe said the early results were not much of a surprise, adding that the DA has been able to show that it has run its municipalities better than other parties in the Western Cape.
“The DA has managed to consolidate its hegemony over the years. It was also able to show that it has run its municipalities better than other parties,” said Seepe.
“In this regard, its claim is vindicated by the office of the auditor-general’s reports. None of the contesting parties could claim that ‘where they govern, they do it better’.”
ANC leads nationally
Professor Zwelinzima Ndevu, the director of the School of Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University, said the election results coming in will present a clear picture.
“I do think that the latest results show very interesting developments on the DA retaining its strong power base in the Western Cape; however, it is still too early to draw conclusions about the situation,” said Ndevu.
“I think the course of the week and the results coming in will present a clear picture.”
As of 9am on Thursday, a total of 2 648 out of 23 293 voting districts in the national vote-counting process had been completed.
As of the latest data available, the ANC is leading in the national vote-counting process.
The DA follows closely behind, and the EFF is third.
