The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has announced that counting has been completed in almost all provinces following the country's third democratic elections.

 

Speaking at the IEC Results Centre in Pretoria today, chairperson Brigalia Bam said the rate at which counting took place confirmed that South Africa's electoral democracy had indeed matured.

 

"The only outstanding results are from the Ekurhuleni and Tshwane Metropolitan Councils in Gauteng, which should be concluded soon," she said.

 

Dr Bam also thanked voters for going to the polls in large numbers, although she could not provide conclusive voter turnout figures as yet.

 

"As we are about to deliver our third elections results the most significant thing is that we have learnt from our past mistakes, making us developed as an elections unit," she said.

 

Currently national results place the African National Congress (ANC) ahead of the pack with 67.57 percent of votes, followed by the main opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA) with 15.71 percent.

 

Third placed is the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), which took 4.83 percent of votes counted so far, followed by the newly formed Independent Democrats (ID) with 2.15 percent.

 

The New National Party (NNP) is hot on the ID's heels, currently standing in fifth place with close to 2.11 percent.

 

The IEC expects to have most of the results by midday tomorrow.

Issued by: GCIS (Government Communication and Information System)- BuaNews