The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said it had scanned about 40,202 of 66,073 expected result slips by 17:00 on Thursday 5 November.

Electoral Commission chairperson Mosotho Moepya gave the figures at the National Results Operations Centre in Midrand, according to SAnews. He said more than 60% of results were captured and 32,238 slips had been independently audited, and that 31% of municipalities, 65 of 213, had been through every stage from capturing to the exceptions check.

That is further than the Commission’s count at 09:00 the same day, when 23,444 slips (35.5%) were scanned and 16,791 (25.4%) were audited. Our earlier report on that briefing has the morning figures.

Provinces

At 17:00 the Northern Cape had captured 87% of its results, the Western Cape 69%, the Free State 64% and the Eastern Cape 60%.

Mpumalanga had captured 52%, KwaZulu-Natal 37%, North West and Gauteng 35% each, and Limpopo 23%.

Share of results captured by province at 17:00 on 5 November, percent
Northern CapeNorthern Cape: 87%87%Western CapeWestern Cape: 69%69%Free StateFree State: 64%64%Eastern CapeEastern Cape: 60%60%MpumalangaMpumalanga: 52%52%KwaZulu-NatalKwaZulu-Natal: 37%37%North WestNorth West: 35%35%GautengGauteng: 35%35%LimpopoLimpopo: 23%23%
Northern CapeNorthern Cape: 87%87%Western CapeWestern Cape: 69%69%Free StateFree State: 64%64%Eastern CapeEastern Cape: 60%60%MpumalangaMpumalanga: 52%52%KwaZulu-NatalKwaZulu-Natal: 37%37%North WestNorth West: 35%35%GautengGauteng: 35%35%LimpopoLimpopo: 23%23%

Source: Electoral Commission of South Africa, briefing of 5 November 2026, via SAnews. Chart: Rand Desk

The Commission said all of the numbers are provisional while any objection that could change an outcome is still open. “It is anticipated that the results collation process will be concluded by the weekend,” he said.

The IEC told parties, candidates, journalists and the public to treat partial results with care and to wait for the figures it verifies and publishes. It also warned against spreading false claims about the outcome.

Issue Tracker

For this election the IEC upgraded its Issue Tracker, part of a Virtual ROC that links remote users to its systems and its 10 Results Operations Centres. Contestants and electoral staff use it to flag problems that could affect the vote. The IEC said 1,000-plus cases logged from the start of special voting had been closed.

Security cluster

Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, co-chairperson of the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS), briefed the media on Thursday evening. She said law enforcement agencies remain on alert over voting materials and results operations.

“There was no widespread disruption that compromised the electoral process,” Mosikili said. She said planned marches and protests did not materialise, and that agencies had focused on hotspots in KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, Mpumalanga and Gauteng. Where logistical and service delivery problems arose at certain voting stations, she said, law enforcement stepped in to stabilise the situation so voting could continue.

The Commission expects to finish collating results by the weekend, and security agencies said they will keep their posture until the elections are formally concluded.