A general view at the IEC results centre in Pretoria, 3 November 2021. Picture: Jacques Nelles
Progress in the finalisation of the election results stands at 89%, while capturing of results is at 93% and awaiting scanning and auditing, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said on Wednesday evening.
Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the staff would not go to bed tonight until the results have been declared for all municipalities.
99.9% of the votes have been counted in the Northern Cape, 93.2 in the Eastern Cape, 95.2% in North West, 88.8% in the Western Cape, 91.6% in Mpumalanga, 90.7% in Gauteng and 98.6% in Free State.
The rest of the provinces range between 83.9% and 89%.
Completed municipalities stand at 177 from a total of 257.
Based on an interim assessment of voter interviews collected on election day with more than 12,000 voters at 300 voting stations nationwide, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) said registered voters were “overwhelmingly confident” that this year’s local elections were both free and fair.
“As with previous national and provincial as well as municipal elections, voters provided an overwhelmingly positive evaluation of the management performance of the IEC and the conduct of officials at voting stations.
“These voter evaluations point firmly to the continued integrity of elections in the country.”
While 90% of registered South African voters had trust in the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), a survey by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) conducted over the past two decades has shown that trust in the Chapter 9 Institution declined in the last decade.
However, this decline in confidence has been minimal in comparison to the distrust in political institutions such as politicians, political parties and government.
The HSRC’s acting strategic lead and research director, Benjamin Roberts, said the declining trust in the IEC, as shown by other nationally representative surveying, was partly due to “general disillusionment” with the functioning of democracy and the performance of core political institutions.
READ MORE: Trust in IEC declining but politicians to blame for low voter turnout – HSRC
Additional reporting by Thapelo Lekabe