The African National Congress is extending its early lead in the municipal elections‚ with Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape voters giving the ruling party the thumbs up.
The ANC has 60% of the 75‚000 votes counted with over 70% support in the two provinces and over 60% in KwaZulu-Natal. In the Nyandeni ward‚ the party has an overwhelming 96.88% of the votes counted.
Its showing in the battleground province of Gauteng is reflecting the early counting of suburban votes‚ with the Democratic Alliance leading so far – with 52% against the ANC’s 31%.
Nationally‚ the DA is currently at 27.08% of ballot papers counted‚ while the EFF is just over five percent.
The Economic Freedom Fighters are coming in at about eight percent in Limpopo‚ its leader Julius Malema’s home province‚ as well as in Gauteng.
The DA’s strongholds so far are the Western Cape where it is leading with 70% of votes counted. It also has over 40 percent in Limpopo and Northern Cape.
Leading up to the 2016 Local Government Elections‚ there were over 26 million voters on the national voters’ roll who were expected to fill out ballot papers at the country’s 22‚612 voting stations.
Wet and windy weather conditions in many parts of the country‚ especially in the Eastern Cape‚ KwaZulu-Natal‚ Free State and parts of the Northern Cape‚ affected voting. At least 30 tents were reportedly significantly affected by gale force winds.
Over 75‚000 police members were deployed countrywide to ensure a safe vote.
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