Midrand - As of 9 AM on Friday, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has captured approximately 55% of the votes from the 2024 National and Provincial Elections.

According to South African Government News Agency, the African National Congress (ANC) is currently leading with 3,236,550 votes, which accounts for 42.07% of the captured votes. They are followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) with 1,821,912 votes, representing 23.68%. The newcomer, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, has made a significant entry with 832,178 votes at 10.82%, positioning it third in the tally so far. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the third-largest party in the previous Parliament, has received 737,238 votes, which puts them at 9.58%. Another new contender, the Patriotic Alliance (PA), holds the fifth spot with 211,738 votes at 2.75%.

The counting of ballots concluded by 3 PM on Thursday, with most stations reporting completed counts. "The process of results compilation entails ensuring accuracy and validation of the results. This process involves scanning each result slip to create an image of the result, double-blind capture of each result slip, auditing of each result slip by independent auditors," explained the IEC.

The commission noted that the results system underwent an external audit, and political parties also verified the results. As results continue to trickle in, the IEC reported a voter turnout of 58.69% as of last night, with some larger stations yet to report. Out of the 27,782,777 registered voters, 7,943,840 votes have been cast, with 7,840,658 being valid and 103,182 spoilt.

The ongoing vote capturing process is being meticulously monitored and displayed at the Results Operations Centre in Midrand.