RC 261105702Bongani Bingwa
Thursday, 5 November 2026
Vote counting dominated as about 12 million South Africans had voted by Wednesday afternoon, with ballot-stamp theft in KwaZulu-Natal and coalition talks looming over the local government results.
- 06:01
The IEC says it will declare results and announce seat allocations as soon as counting, capturing and verification are complete, within the seven-day window, and does not intend to use all of it.
- 06:02
A security stamp and unmarked ballots were stolen from a KwaZulu-Natal voting station on Tuesday night during special voting. Police are investigating, and the IEC has issued a new stamp.
- 06:03
The ANC chair urged members to accept the outcome and not discredit the IEC, warning that doing so has long-term effects on the commission's credibility, and said GNU lessons will guide local coalitions.
- 06:57
Political researcher Tasneem Essop said there could be over a hundred hung councils, so coalition talks will dominate once seat allocations are final.