As the final election results trickle in at a slow but steady pace, the National Results Operating Centre (NROC) in Midrand is a hive of activity. The elections have not been without hiccups, with more than 30 objections received and the IEC saying they expect more.

By 16:00, 9.9 million votes had been captured. The IEC said that final results will be declared ‘somewhere over the weekend’.

During the afternoon press briefing, IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said 71.6% of results have been captured.

They are as follows:

The IEC said it cannot yet give the exact number that the 1.33% of spoilt votes represent, saying this will only be finalised once all votes have been captured.

A total of 36 objections have been received, of which 15 have been dealt with while communication is in process with the rest of the objectors. The IEC said they ‘accept that it will not be the final number of objections’.

Following the Human Sciences Research Council briefing about the outcome of their voter satisfaction survey, the IEC said some of the information, such as the fact that over 51% of voters indicated they are in favour of electronic ballots, will be considered in preparation for future elections.

Familiar faces that visited the centre today include Minister of Police Bheki Cele, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba and DA leader John Steenhuisen.

It is set to be a busy Friday evening as more and more political party representatives, analysts, observers, and media flock to the NROC to keep a close eye on the latest election results.