LGE2026: Results capturing making steady progress

Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) Chairperson Mosotho Moepya says results capturing and verification are progressing steadily across the country, with more than 60% of the 66 073 results captured at 5pm on Thursday.

“The Commission further reports that about 40 202 result slips have been scanned, while 32 238 have undergone independent auditing as part of the verification and quality assurance processes. These measures are aimed at ensuring the accuracy, transparency and integrity of the results before they are finalised,” Moepya said at the National Results Operations Centre (ROC) in Midrand.

He was briefing the media on vote counting, results verification and capturing following the 2026 Local Government Elections, held on Wednesday, when South Africans went to the polls to elect representatives to municipal councils.

The elections gave citizens an opportunity to influence local governance and hold elected representatives accountable for addressing service delivery challenges and improving quality of life in their communities.

Provincially, the Northern Cape had captured 87% of its results, followed by the Western Cape at 69%, the Free State at 64% and the Eastern Cape at 60%.

Mpumalanga had captured 52% of its results, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 37%, North West and Gauteng at 35% each, and Limpopo at 23%.

Moepya said 65 of the country’s 213 municipalities (31%) had completed the capturing, scanning, auditing and exception process.

The Commission cautioned that the figures remain provisional until objections material to an election have been finalised.

“The Commission remains committed to finalising the results as expeditiously as possible, while ensuring that all prescribed verification and quality assurance processes are rigorously followed to safeguard the accuracy, transparency and integrity of the results. It is anticipated that the results collation process will be concluded by the weekend,” the Chairperson said.

The Commission urged political parties, independent candidates, the media and the public to exercise caution when interpreting partial results and to rely on the officially verified results it publishes.

Issue Tracker

The Commission launched an enhanced Issue Tracker for this election, as part of the Virtual ROC.

The Virtual ROC provides remote access to electoral operational systems and the 10 Results Operations Centres.

“One of the innovations going into the 2026 Local Government Elections has been the enhancement of the Issue Tracker. This is a mechanism for contestants and electoral staff to report all issues that could impair the election process,” Moepya said.

The Issue Tracker has resolved more than 1 000 cases logged since special voting began.

“The Commission reiterates its call for all stakeholders to continue to observe election regulations pertaining to the results processing phase and avoid issuing disinformation about the results,” the Chairperson said. -SAnews.gov.za

Source: Original report at SAnews.gov.za.