Roundup: Growing support for South African opposition in local elections: early results

Support for the South African opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) got a boost across South Africa, early results of the local government elections showed on Thursday.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said counting of votes has been completed in all but a handful of voting stations.

Election officials under the watchful gaze of party agents and observers spent the night sorting and counting ballots at their voting stations to produce results slips for each of the voting stations, the IEC said.

The elections, seen by many as being the most contested since 1994, took place on Wednesday.

For the first time in history, the elections saw 200 political parties and over 61,000 candidates participating.

As at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, 77.8 percent of results had been captured, the IEC said.

Initial results showed that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) maintained a strong lead in most municipalities across the country, but in some cities like Johannesburg, Pretoria and Nelson Mandela Bay, support for the DA grew. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) also made gains in some cities.

But the IEC said people should be patient to wait for the final results.

Following the capture process, the results are then subjected to independent audit verification before being finalized, said the IEC.

"This process is now underway in all provinces and will continue until all results have been finalized," said the commission.

Speaking of the initial results, Chairperson of DA Federal Council, James Selfe said early results bode well for the DA's electoral outcomes.

"In a stamp of approval for the DA's governance record, voters in Cape Town have re-elected the DA with a resounding majority, which we can project to be our strongest result in Cape Town ever," he said.

Voters have endorsed the DA record of good governance in Cape Town in their numbers, Selfe said.

In Midvaal district, Gauteng Province, the DA has been re-elected with an increased majority, he said.

"We view this as a clear recognition of the DA's successes in governing Midvaal to be the best-run Municipality in Gauteng," Selfe said.

"We can also now confirm that the Kouga Municipality in the Eastern Cape and the Cape Agulhas Municipality in the Western Cape is projected to be an outright majority for the DA, and we look forward to bringing the DA difference to Kouga and Cape Agulhas," he said.

In the Western Cape results so far show that voters have come out to re-elect the DA with outright majorities in Bergrivier, Langeberg, and Overstrand returning the DA to govern.

"The early results show growth for the DA across the board in South African municipalities, and we are buoyant as we await the newest results that come in," he said. Endit