12M and counting: IEC urges final dash to polls as 2026 local govt elections enter home stretch
The electoral commission said this represents a significant milestone in the 2026 local government elections, with more than 29 million people registered to vote at nearly 24,000 voting stations.
Mongezi Koko
IEC National Roc
The IEC said that preliminary figures indicate that about 12 million voters had cast their ballots by 5 this afternoon, countrywide.
The electoral commission said this represents a significant milestone in the 2026 local government elections, with more than 29 million people registered to vote at nearly 24,000 voting stations.
Gauteng recorded the highest number of votes, followed by KwaZulu-Natal, with the commission encouraging those who have not yet voted to use the remaining hours before polling stations close at nine tonight.
IEC chief executive officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission is encouraged by the turnout, despite some operational challenges during the day.
Earlier, the IEC reported that 98% of voting stations had opened on time, with a few experiencing delays due to local protests and heavy rain in parts of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The commission has also introduced handheld barcode scanners and sequence numbers on the voters’ roll to speed up the verification process and reduce queues at polling stations.
Mamabolo said the provincial breakdown shows Gauteng leading with 3 million votes, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 2.5 million.
“As at five today, preliminary figures indicate that 12 million voters had cast their votes. Gauteng is recording the highest number of voters at 3 million, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 2.5 million, the Western Cape with1.5 million, the Eastern Cape with 1.4 million, and Limpopo with 1.1 million. Mpumalanga with 854,000, North West 702,000, Free State 588,000, and lastly the Northern Cape at 299,000. The commission is pleased with the encouraging turnout at voting stations across the country, yet we still need that residual voting bloc that has not made its way to the stations to do so before 9 pm.”