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Cape Town — The ANC’s resounding lead in the elections firmed to 62.7 percent as vote counting neared the two-thirds mark by late afternoon on Thursday, with the DA at 22.4 percent.Julius Malema’s militant Economic Freedom Fighters was third with 4.9 percent of the vote — predictably proving itself the upstart success of the elections.
In 2009 that role had belonged to the Congress of the People, but on Thursday Cope’s support base was in tatters at less than 1 percent and just behind that of the Freedom Front Plus.
Political analyst Steven Friedman saw a cautionary tale in the EFF’s rapid rise.
“They will continue to attract media attention . . . but whether that has any impact on South African politics is another matter,” he said.
The African National Congress was leading the race in all provinces bar the Western Cape, where the Democratic Alliance looked set to grow its outright majority significantly.
The party had garnered 57.3 percent of the vote, but the result could change because counting was still continuing in Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, two sprawling areas where the ANC has been seeking to claw back support. Less than 60 percent of votes had been counted and the final tally in the province was expected around midnight.
In Gauteng, vote counting was slower than elsewhere.
The ANC was at 52.5 percent compared to the DA, which hopes to rob the ruling party of an outright majority in the province, at 32 percent.
But these results could yet change dramatically as there were no final figures yet in Johannesburg metropolitan areas. “We are quite humbled by the confidence and trust our people have shown,” said Gauteng ANC leader Nomvula Mokonyane.
Electoral Commission chairperson Pansy Tlakula cautioned that the results could still shift throughout the country because the smaller voting districts were those where counting had been completed first.
“This means that we can still anticipate significant movement during the course of the day,” she said.
But Mokonyane said the ANC did not foresee its lead shrinking in the party’s fifth landslide victory since the demise of apartheid.
The IEC said several incidents of violence had marred what was largely a peaceful election, with a turnout far exceeding expectations.
An ANC member was killed outside a voting station in KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal. ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said the party suspected a rival party was behind the killing.
“This comrade was killed while sitting at the ANC desk outside a voting station,” he said.
Another person was shot in KwaMashu in KwaZulu-Natal.
The party results in KwaZulu-Natal showed the ANC far ahead at 64 percent. The IFP seemed set to be confirmed as a spent force in the province, with 13 percent.
According to the IEC, two people who posed as voters were arrested for an attack at a voting station in Tzaneen, Limpopo.
“They entered the station and attacked the police on duty, election officials and party agents and damaged voting material,” Tlakula said.
In Springs, on the East Rand, police found a ballot box containing 16 special votes. Police were investigating the matter. “These remain isolated incidents which we are taking extremely seriously and, along with the police and party liaison committee partners, are investigating,” Tlakula said.
Meanwhile, dumped ballots which were reportedly discovered in Pretoria on Thursday had already been counted, the DA says.
The majority of the ballots were DA votes, from the Lynwood voting district, according to reports.
DA leader Helen Zille said at the IEC national results operations centre in Pretoria on Thursday night that the party was concerned about the incident and would like to know how it happened.
“This is certainly not conducive to public confidence in a free and fair election,” she said. “They somehow got dumped after they were counted, not before, that was my initial big worry.”
Zille added that it was worrying that the IEC appeared not to be able to transport ballot papers properly, and that ballot papers landed up on the street. They need to be stored should a recount be required.
However, the party was satisfied from party agents at the voting station that the votes had in fact already been counted.
The IEC said on Thursday that it was looking into the issue.
In Pretoria, the African Union election observer missions said yesterday that South Africa’s 2014 general elections had been free and fair.
The head of the AU observer mission, Prof Ibrahima Fall, said: “The preliminary conclusion is that the elections were free, fair and transparent.”
Fall praised the Independent Electoral Commission’s use of technology in conducting the elections.
“The process was elaborate to ensure accountability,” he said. “The capturing and transmission of votes are done electronically and are efficient.”
Former Ghanaian president John Kufuor, a member of the mission, was not overly concerned about the discovery of ballot papers found dumped in Pretoria and Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg.
“I don’t think the incidents were too many considering the size of the country and its history. We believe that the IEC will move from strength to strength from here,” Kufuor said.
He went on to say that South Africa had set the bar for other countries in the continent.
“This is a preliminary report, but I can assure you its going to become the final one,” he said.
The AU deployed 57 observers across the nine provinces during the elections.
The Southern African Development Community’s observers said the country had been adequately prepared for the elections.
“I congratulate the IEC, government, society and media for their orderly and peaceful elections whose outcome has no doubt reflects the will of the people,” said Sadc head of observer mission, Justice Lehohla. — Sapa
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