South African electoral commission targets weekend completion of counting
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on SABC News
South Africa’s Electoral Commission says more than 60% of the 66,073 results had been captured by 5 November, and 32,238 result slips had undergone an independent audit. It expects to complete collation by the weekend, according to chairperson Mosotho Moepya, who urged reliance on officially verified figures.
South Africa’s Electoral Commission (IEC) plans to conclude the counting and collation of municipal election results by the weekend, its chairperson Mosotho Moepya said at a media briefing in Midrand, according to SABC News. By 5pm, more than 60% of the 66,073 results had been captured.
The South African Electoral Commission said 40,202 result slips had been scanned and 32,238 had undergone an independent audit. It urged political parties, independent candidates, the media and the public not to draw conclusions from partial results and to consult only figures officially verified by the IEC.
The Northern Cape had the most advanced capture rate, at 87%, followed by the Western Cape at 69%, the Free State at 64% and the Eastern Cape at 60%. KwaZulu-Natal stood at 37%, while the North West and Gauteng were at 35% and Limpopo at 23%. At municipal level, 65 of the 213 municipalities, or 31%, had completed the capture, scanning, auditing and processing of anomalies.
The progress announced by the IEC came on 5 November, after the publication of an initial update reporting 1% of votes counted. On the same day, two municipalities secured a majority in the Western Cape.
