IEC announces first results in 2024 elections

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has officially begun counting votes after the May 29 elections.

IEC announces first results in 2024 elections

The live results which are trickling in as vote counting continues indicate the African National Congress (ANC) is in the lead, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) in second position and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in third. The newly formed Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party is among the top parties on the leaderboard.

Extraordinarily long queues characterised the 2024 provincial and general elections with millions of South Africans gathering early on Wednesday morning to cast their ballot in the country’s seventh democratic elections.

Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo on Wednesday evening said a higher turnout was achieved during the 2024 elections than the 66% that was achieved in 2019.

During the briefing, Mamabolo said a last-minute rush in urban voting and high turnout were to blame for Wednesday’s late finish, but many voters complained at polling stations that the three-ballot system was too complex.

“We are experiencing a late surge and are processing a large number of voters,” IEC chief Sy Mamabolo told reporters, predicting that the final turnout figure would be “well beyond” the 66 percent recorded in the last election in 2019.”

Vote counting

The IEC said in order to improve the quality of the counting and the completion of result slips, it has instituted a new category of staff who will support the presiding officer with the counting effort.

“The recruitment criteria for these staff was slightly different from the rest as high levels of numeracy are mandatory. Three such staff were being appointed for each voting station and each sub-station where we operate a voting centre,” the IEC said.