Expect results declaration 'sometime' over the weekend, says IEC
South Africans will have to wait another day to learn the final results of what has been dubbed the most contentious elections in democratic South Africa.
It’s been two days since voters stood in line to make their mark in the national and provincial elections. Under novel circumstances, voters could vote for independent candidates, and they were considering a third regional ballot paper.
Preliminary results indicate a precarious situation for the governing ANC - with analysts projecting below 50% support.
However - amid the anxiety and excitement of political leaders and their supporters - the electoral commission's head, Sy Mamabolo, says we can expect a final result announcement soon.
“The commission will declare the results of this election sometime over the weekend, after which elected representatives will be published in the government gazette and after that handed over to the chief justice for purposes of convening the first meeting of the National Assembly.”
NORTHERN CAPE COUNT COMPLETE
As anticipated, the Northern Cape is the first of the nine provinces to complete its results-capturing process by 4 p.m. on Friday.
The progress relating to the capturing of results is as follows:
- Eastern Cape - 92.13%
- Free State - 95.52%
- Gauteng - 75.33%
- KwaZulu-Natal - 75.37%
- Mpumalanga- 91.94%
- Northern Cape - 100%
- Limpopo - 80%
- North West - 88%
- Western Cape - 88%
RESULTS INTEGRITY NOT AFFECTED BY LEADERBOARD GLITCH
While the IEC has said it regrets this morning’s incident, in which the results screen across its centres went blank, the commission is denying that its system crashed.
Earlier, the commission released a statement acknowledging the two-hour-long interruption.
Mamabolo is adamant that everything about the vote-counting process is still in order.
“I wish to emphasise that our system did not crash, as reported, and no data was compromised. The commission went into the election with a full spectrum ICT plan, which included backups and recovery where such were necessary. In this case, this was not necessary.”
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In a scathing statement released Friday, the Economic Freedom Fighters accused the IEC of incompetence.
“The crashing of the dashboard highlights the incompetence and inability of the IEC to safeguard our democracy. This incompetence was first witnessed on voting day when the VMD machines were not fully functional in many voting stations across the country. This resulted in long lines and a longer voting process which were not properly managed by the institution”, the statement read.
The red berets call for a thorough investigation into the IEC.
At the same time, Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen slammed the IEC performance at voting district, adding the party’s lawyers would look at taking legal steps against the commission.
READ MORE: IEC 'complete disaster' on election day, says Steenhuisen
“Their failure to perform has disenfranchised a whole stack of South Africans and prejudiced political parties. We are busy calculating because our legal team is looking at whether we may take action against the IEC for damages.
“We’ve calculated almost a full percentage point that their ineffectiveness has possibly shaved off our ultimate result and that of other parties. So, we’re not going to let the IEC get away with this again.”
Steenhuisen’s claims it was similar challenges in the 2021 local government elections that cost his party their control of the Eastern Cape’s Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.
He said the IEC failed to remedy the concerns raised then, which has resulted in what he described as a “shambolic” and “dog’s breakfast” of an election.
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