By Johnathan Paoli
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said that more than 3.5 million South Africans had cast their ballots by 10am on Wednesday as the country headed to the polls in the Local Government Elections.
Speaking during an update at the national results operation centre in Midrand, IEC deputy chief electoral officer Masego Sheburi said the commission was encouraged by the early turnout, with Gauteng recording the highest number of ballots cast by mid-morning.
“Voting is proceeding well across the country, with 98% of the 23,996 voting stations having opened by the regulated time of 7 o’clock in the morning. To illustrate its performance, by 10 o’clock, our preliminary indications are that 3.5 million voters had already voted,” Sheburi said.
According to the IEC’s preliminary figures, 895,384 voters had cast their ballots in Gauteng by 10am, followed by 623,380 in KwaZulu-Natal, 461,264 in the Western Cape and 431,123 in the Eastern Cape.
Limpopo recorded 366,378 votes, followed by Mpumalanga with 252,859, North West with 204,736, the Free State with 195,537 and the Northern Cape with 93,030.
The commission attributed the smooth processing of voters partly to additional efficiency measures, including hand-held barcode scanners attached to voter management devices and the introduction of sequence numbers on the voters’ roll.
Sheburi said the measures were intended to speed up voter verification and reduce waiting times at stations.
The IEC said the commission was encouraged by the enthusiasm demonstrated by voters across all nine provinces, particularly those who arrived early to avoid afternoon queues.
“The commission urges all the remaining registered voters to use the remaining hours of voting to cast their ballots and exercise their democratic right to participate in the 2026 Local Government Elections,” Sheburi said.
Delayed openings
But the commission acknowledged that a small number of voting stations had experienced delayed openings because of localised protests and access difficulties caused by heavy weather conditions in parts of the Eastern Cape and KZN, as well as Mpumalanga.
Sheburi said that all stations were operational by 9am.
“We have had meetings with political parties. We anticipate that we will receive the list where there’s a perception that votes are not [being cast], queues are not moving, so that we can purposefully focus on those areas,” he said.
IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya also urged voters to make use of the remaining voting hours, particularly in areas experiencing difficult weather conditions.
Asked whether voting hours could be extended if weather conditions deteriorated, Moepya said the law made provision for such.
“Let’s not prejudge the weather, but there are provisions in law to deal with that situation, and we should be comfortable dealing with it,” he said.
Voting stations close at 9pm.
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