RC 261104Cape TalkPippa Hudson
Wednesday, 4 November 2026
Cape Town's voting day ran mostly smoothly after ballot printing delays, with senior queue treatment inconsistent and turnout still building ahead of the 9pm close.
- 14:03
A Constitutional Court ruling forced the IEC to invalidate 28 million ballots and print 33 million new ones, leaving over 200 voting stations without papers on Monday morning.
- 14:33
The IEC says 98% of voting stations opened on time nationally, and voter management device problems in some areas had been addressed by the time of its briefing.
- 14:52
About 520,000 voters in the Cape Metro had cast ballots by the afternoon briefing, roughly a quarter of its 2.1 million registered voters.
- 13:41
Senior and frail voters were moved to the front of queues at some stations but sent to the back at others, with no consistent rule applied across Cape Town.
- 14:22
Voting stations close at 9pm, and anyone in the queue by then will be helped; Home Affairs branches stay open until 6pm for temporary ID certificates.