Anticipation over the next set of leaders or whether the current leader will retain their position reached a peak following the elections on Wednesday (29/3).

“The elections in the Northern Cape went quite well, with no major incidents,” said Premier Dr Zamani Saul at the Results Operation Centre in Kimberley. “We, as the ANC in the province, are happy with how the IEC handled the elections and is still handling them. They’ve demonstrated their capability to manage such a large project.”

He added the ANC is expected to secure an outright majority in the province, and the figures posted so far indicate that the ANC is the leading party.

“With almost 18% of the national votes counted,” said political analyst André Duvenhage, “the ANC has over 41% support. The DA has 27%, and interestingly, other parties like the PA and MK are also performing well. ActionSA and RiseMzanzi are falling behind.

Results at the time of publication. Photo: X 

“I remain of the opinion that the ANC will struggle to achieve a 50% majority, which brings coalition possibilities into play.”

The numbers regarding ballot capturing in the Northern Cape are looking good, and the provincial IEC leader Bonolo Modise is hopeful that by 12:00 on Friday (31/5), all the ballots for all three elections will be captured.

“We had one station in Sol Plaatje that took time to reconcile, but the office in Sol Plaatje is addressing that,” Modise said.

Provincial IEC leader, Bonolo Modise. Photo: Heidrè Malgas

Once the counting concludes, the centre will close and IEC members will return to their respective offices. Thereafter, there will be briefing sessions to discuss improvements and setbacks, identifying areas to focus on for future elections.

“The process in the Northern Cape has been smooth. We organised in advance to ensure everything was in place, as distances do not allow for errors. We cannot quickly collect something from Kimberley to Port Nolloth. These are things that must be done earlier.”

Modise noted he looked forward to rest after the election.

OFM News/Heidrè Malgas cg