Leader board shows just over 2.9 million of votes cast counted

This as South Africans went to the polls on Wednesday to make their “X” in the country’s sixth democratic elections.

As the first day of vote-counting got underway in earnest, the National Results Operations Centre (ROC) in Pretoria, where IEC officials, observer missions, political representatives, media and analysts are stationed, is a hive of activity.

On Thursday morning, the leader board at the centre showed that just over 2.9 million of the valid votes cast had been counted.

This as South Africans went to the polls on Wednesday to make their “X” in the country’s sixth democratic elections.

Statistics for the country's big metro's have started to come in.

In the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, a total 21 373 votes were cast of which 248 were spoilt as at 5:48 am on Thursday.

In the City of Johannesburg with a total registered population of 2 291 299 people, a total of 81 727 votes were cast with a total 640 spoilt votes.

In the sister Metro of Ekurhuleni, which boasts a total of 1 631 056 registered population, a total 136 143 votes were cast while 1 563 votes were spoilt as at 7:33 am.

The Free State’s Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality had a total registered population of 425 263. A total of 21 498 votes were cast while 205 votes were spoilt.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in the Eastern Cape, saw a total 3 641 votes being cast while 348 votes were spoilt.

Meanwhile, Buffalo City - which had a total registered population of 421 247 - saw a total 17 878 votes being cast while 258 were spoilt.

The City of Cape Town, in the Western Cape, had a total of 238 517 votes cast across all its voting districts with a total 1 998 spoilt votes.

Early results for the eThekwini Metro in KwaZulu-Natal were not yet available at 8:25 am.

At a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon, the Electoral Commission (IEC) announced that it was attending to a situation where five voting stations in the provinces of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal had not yet opened by 5 pm.

The voting stations that were affected include two in the Eastern Cape - one in Buffalo City and one in Ntabankulu - as well as three voting stations in Inkosi Langalibalele Municipality in the uThukela District (Escort).

(With Inputs South African Government Press Release)