‘DA takes Tshwane’ – Maimane
In a surprise announcement late Friday afternoon, DA leader Mmusi Maimane claimed indications were that his party had beaten the ANC in the Tshwane metro.
All indications are that the Democratic Alliance (DA) has beaten the African National Congress (ANC) in the Tshwane metro, albeit that the information has not yet been verified by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
DA leader Mmusi Maimane rushed into the IEC results operations centre shortly before 17:00 on Friday afternoon, calling an impromptu news conference to make the surprise announcement.
He was accompanied by the DA mayoral candidate for Tshwane Solly Msimanga.
“If we look at all the results currently at our disposal the DA has obtained more votes than the ANC in the capital,” Maimane said, adding that Msimanga was likely to be the next mayor of Tshwane.
It is believed he had based his statement on ballots counted, but not yet scanned or verified by the IEC.
The DA and ANC had been in a close race the entire Friday, with only a few percentage points separating the two parties, taking turns in leading the contest.
Maimane on Thursday evening made a similar announcement that his party had beaten the ANC in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro of Port Elizabeth. A claim that turned out to be correct.
In Johannesburg the DA remains in the lead with 41.9%, the ANC with 41.54% and the EFF with 10.51%.
The official results of the 2016 local government elections are expected to be announced by the IEC at 18:00 on Saturday, 6 August.
Also read:
IEC UPDATE: ANC still in the run for Tshwane
No coalition talks yet, ANC still in the lead in Tshwane
Voting on a nail biting edge
DA leads the pack at midday, Friday
DA remains in the lead in Tshwane
DA still in the lead, but only just
Elections 2016: DA in the lead in Gauteng
Smooth sailing in 2016 local elections
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