Johannesburg – The prospect of coalition governments in the country’s metropolitan municipalities is looming large, if interim results halfway through the counting process are anything to go by.
With 58% votes counted this morning, the ruling party was grappling to register outright majority votes in most metros after over 50% of the votes were counted.
In terms of the national picture, the governing party was leading the race with just over 46% of the votes, followed by the DA at 22% and the EFF is in third position after registering 10% support.
In Tshwane, as of 7am, the ANC was lagging the DA, which was leading the battle to control the capital city with 35%.
The ruling party was sitting at 32,4% while the EFF was in third position having garnered over 10,2% of the votes.
The governing party was also facing stiff competition in the City of Johannesburg, the country’s economic hub, where it was sitting at 34,6 %of the votes halfway through the counting. It was followed by the DA, which had scored 25% of the votes.
Former Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA garnered almost 17% electoral support, surpassing the EFF, which was sitting at 11,7%.
In Ekurhuleni, the country’s industrial heartland, the governing party is leading the votes with almost 38% while the DA stood at almost 29%. Coming in at third position was EFF, with close to 14%. Mashaba also managed to make inroads into the metro, earning over 6% of the vote, followed by the FF Plus with 3,6%.
The ANC and the DA were almost neck and neck at the Eastern Cape’s Nelson Mandela Bay, which is governed by the DA-led coalition. The ANC is at 40,8 % followed by the DA with 38,9%. One of the key players in the municipality, the UDM, was battling at 1% of the vote.
Last night, the Electoral Commission reported that 55% of the 64 502 results expected had been finalized.
“The Northern Cape has completed 89 percent of its results, followed by Western Cape at 72% and in third position comes Eastern Cape at 70%. The rest of the provinces completion rate range between 37 and 67%,” he said.
“At the level of capturing 78% of results are already in the system waiting scanning and auditing. We are still pursuing the target of reaching the 90% still in the course of tonight,” said the IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo.
Mamabolo further stated that the number of completed municipalities stood (as of 19h30) at 94.
“We will spare no effort (in ensuring) that the majority of the of 163 municipalities are completed within the planned time,” he said.
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