JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — South Africa is close to finalizing the counting and validation of votes for the 2024 National and Provincial Elections, with nearly all voting districts accounted for as of Saturday afternoon.

According to South African Government News Agency, as of 12:51 PM, 98.91% of the votes have been counted and validated, covering 23,028 of the 23,292 voting districts nationwide. The African National Congress (ANC) currently leads with 40.29% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) with 21.64%, and the MK Party with 14.70%.

Regional breakdowns show varying leads: in Limpopo, where 99.47% of votes have been counted, the ANC dominates with 74.27%. The North West province has counted 98.56% of votes, with the ANC leading there as well. In Mpumalanga, with 98.4% of votes counted, the ANC also leads, followed by the MK Party. KwaZulu-Natal shows the MK Party in the lead with 45.93% after counting 99.58% of votes.

Complete counts have been achieved in some areas: the Free State has finalized its count, with the ANC leading, and the Northern Cape has also completed vote counting, with the ANC in the forefront.

Gauteng, the country's economic hub, has counted 94.46% of its votes, with the ANC leading followed by the DA and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The Western Cape, where the DA leads, has completed 97.68% of its vote counting.

The IEC continues to process the final counts, ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the election results across all provinces.