RC 261105Power FMMondli Makhanya
Thursday, 5 November 2026
Early results and party projections dominated, led by the DA's claim of a first-ever million black voters, a 14.5 million turnout, and a slow count with final results expected by the weekend.
- 09:04
The DA projects it will receive more than one million black voters for the first time in its history, which federal chairperson Ashwin Sarupen says dismantles the notion that the party is white-only.
- 10:00
The IEC says about 14.5 million voters cast ballots by Wednesday evening, up roughly 2.44 million on the 2021 local government elections, with counting still at an early stage.
- 10:01
Only about 10,000 of more than 66,000 individual voting station results had been cleared by mid-morning, and the IEC expects final results by Friday or Saturday.
- 10:01
The ANC says it will announce its mayoral candidates within two weeks of analysing the results, and that coalition negotiations will be handled by its national officials rather than regional structures.
- 11:31
Helen Zille says she expects to come close to an outright majority in Johannesburg but not as close as she had hoped, with coalition talks to follow at national level.