With vote counting, capturing and verification continuing at the National Results Centre in Midrand, early results are beginning to reveal the political picture across the country.
By Mapaballo Borotho

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is expected to officially announce the results of the 2026 Local Government Elections on Sunday, 8 November.
As the number-crunching continues at the National Results Centre in Midrand, the leaderboard is beginning to reveal an emerging picture of the country’s political landscape.
At the time of writing, 28% of votes had been counted nationally. Early results showed the Democratic Alliance (DA) leading in Gauteng with 40.89%, followed by the African National Congress (ANC) at 18.48%. ActionSA was polling at 15.06%.
Nationally, the ANC was narrowly ahead of the DA, with 31.47% against 30.76%. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was polling at 4.96%, while the Freedom Front Plus had 4.34%.
The DA was also leading in Cape Town, where it was polling at approximately 58%.
Meanwhile, the MK Party was emerging as a strong contender in eThekwini, with early results suggesting it could be in a position to take control of the metro.
As counting, capturing and verification continue, South Africans can follow the emerging results through the IEC Results Portal:
🌐 results.elections.org.za
Thousands of South Africans turned out at voting stations on Wednesday, 4 November, to make their mark in the 2026 Local Government Elections.
Young people also took to social media to encourage registered voters to participate, with voting-related content trending across various platforms.
Pictures of inked thumbs, election-day moments and captions encouraging others to vote formed part of the online conversation, highlighting the role of social media in civic participation.
The final results, expected over the weekend, will provide a clearer picture of the political landscape and the parties that will represent communities at local government level.
The elections also carry implications for the ANC’s future – which has always won the outright majority since the dawn of democracy, as the party prepares to elect a new leader at its December 2027 conference.
That leadership contest is expected to shape who leads the party into the next national election in 2029.
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