JOHANNESBURG - Votes are being counted across the country following Wednesday’s local government elections, with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) expected to brief the public on the process at 10am on Thursday.
IEC Chairperson Mosotho Moepya says the counting and verification process is progressing well, but cautions that significant work remains before the final results can be declared.
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The commission expects to receive more than 66,000 results slips, with approximately 11,000 already completed, received and fully audited at the time of his briefing.
Moepya says every result must be checked and verified to ensure there are no discrepancies before it is included in the final tally.
“This is the trickiest process, because nothing must go wrong now. We’ve got to ensure that everything that has been captured at the stations is verified, audited, and that there are no exceptions to those results,” he said.
He assured South Africans that their votes were in safe hands and that the commission would handle the results with integrity.
“We want you to know that your votes are in good hands, that we will deal with them with the greatest respect and integrity,” he said.
Moepya also thanked South Africans for creating an environment conducive to the elections, highlighting scenes of political parties celebrating together at voting stations in parts of KwaZulu-Natal after polls closed.
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He said the election process should bring people together, despite their political differences.
On voter turnout, Moepya cautiously expressed optimism that participation could improve on the 2021 local government elections and the 2024 national and provincial elections.
He said the final figures would determine whether turnout had increased, adding that he did not expect a dramatic improvement.