Counting of votes is progressing apace in South Africa after Wednesday’s crucial elections which the ruling African National Congress, ANC is expected to win.
Reports Thursday said about 20% of the vote had been counted and the tally put the ANC ahead with 54.71% of the national vote. The party which has been in power since the fall of apartheid in 1994 is followed by the DA, with 26.41%, and the EFF, with 7.98%.
Poor logistics was reported in parts of the country during the election but the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has says glitches at the poll will not affect the credibility of the election.
The May 8 poll has been described as the most hotly contested since 1994.
Turn out appears to have been high with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) reporting a turn out of about 71% so far.
The battle for control over the key economic centre of Gauteng is being watched by many especially after the DA said it hopes to collapse ANC’s support in the key province to below 50% for the first time.
Only 12.52% of the vote had been counted in the province on Thursday morning. At the time, the ANC had 51.64% of the vote and the DA 27.01%. The EFF had 13.36%.
According to the CSIR, it was still too early to give a good prediction of what could happen in Gauteng, since the counting at a number of large township areas had not been reported as yet.
In the Western Cape province, the ANC is struggling as projected with the DA leading with 56.97%, followed by the ANC with 26.78%.
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