The wait is finally over!
Results from the local government elections will be released tonight at 6pm from the national results operations centre (ROC) in Pretoria.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will also be present to address the media and nation.
The ROC has now had a complete security sweep and turnover in preparation for the announcement in a couple of hours.
The dining hall – a short walk down the road at the Tshwane Events Centre – where journalists, politicians and Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) employees dined for the week, has also had a makeover in preparation for the gala dinner that will be held after the announcement of the results.
With almost all the counting and processing of votes complete, the ANC has the majority win despite the numbers being very low and under the 50% threshold.
By 4.30pm, the leader board indicated that the ANC had scored 45.85% of support nationally.
Nationally, the main opposition party, the DA, stood at 21.76% and the EFF at 10.37%.
In the 2016 municipal elections, the ANC had 53.91% of the votes nationally, the DA 26.9% and the EFF 8.19%.
By 4.30pm on Thursday, shortly before the final announcement of results, the IEC’s dashboard showed that the ANC had clinched 163 councils, 4 494 seats and, so far, 10 660 534 votes nationally. The DA had won 23 councils, 1 396 seats and 5 060 382 votes, and the EFF had no councils, 914 seats and 2 412 214 votes.
Of the ANC’s 163 councils, they had control in 119, and of the DA’s 23, they had control in 11.
The IFP has 5.57% of support nationally, up from 4.25% in 2016, and 452 seats. The party also clinched 16 councils and was in control of nine of them.
According to the results, of the 213 councils, by 4.30pm 69 councils were hung, five had not yet been calculated, and 139 were controlled.
In the Gauteng metros, the ANC and DA were battling it out for Pretoria. The ANC was at 34.63%; the DA at 32.03% and the EFF at 10.69%.
ActionSA was at 8.64% and VF Plus 7.84% in Pretoria.
In the City of Johannesburg, the ANC was at 33.67%; the DA at 26.08%; ActionSA at 16.05% and the EFF at 10.65%.
In Ekurhuleni, the ANC scored 38.19% of the votes; the DA 28.72% ; EFF 13.57% and ActionSA 6.6%.
The DA and ANC were neck and neck in Nelson Mandela Bay, with the DA at 39.92% and the ANC at 39.43%.
In eThekwini, the ANC was at 42.02%; DA 25.62%; EFF 10.48%, IFP 7.13%, ActionSA 1.93%.
Buffalo City brought through most of its support for the ANC with 59.43%; the DA was sitting at 19.52% and the EFF at 12.06%.
City of Cape Town results stood as follows: DA 59.2%, ANC 17.6%, Good 3.93%, EFF 3.93%.
Political Bureau