Currently leading in seven provinces, the African National Congress (ANC) has completed nearly half of the voting districts nationwide.
With 56% of the province’s voting districts completed and 52.4% of the votes cast, the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) hold on the Western Cape appears to be solid.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party is still in the lead with 45.4% of the voting districts completed.
In Gauteng, the ruling party has 35% of the vote after 32% of the province’s polling districts have been finished. In the province of Limpopo, it is leading with 72% of polling districts completed.
Votes that have been spoiled are increasing as the hourly vote count progresses.
By the time 48% of voting districts are finished, there are little more than 86 500 spoiled ballots.
When a ballot is incorrectly marked, it may be unclear what the voter intended, which is why spoiled ballots are considered illegitimate.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had earlier issued a warning to residents in and around KwaZulu-Natal’s Ward 14 uMhlathuze to search for an IEC-branded ballot box that vanished while being transported from the Matamzana Dube School voting location.
The IEC reports that the ballots in the box have been tallied, reconciled, and certified while briefing the media at the National Results Operation Center.
The public is reminded that anyone found in possession of votes will be prosecuted criminally.
Granville Abrahams, general manager of the IEC, states that the commission must hold onto ballot boxes for a full year before discarding them. Therefore, we would really like to get that ballot box returned so that it can be stored. It appears that it was moved in an open car.
And when we arrived at our location, we found that the voting box was gone. However, I want to emphasize that such votes have been tallied and noted in the outcome,” Abrahams continues.
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