LIVE BLOG | BREAKING NEWS: IEC to declare election results on Sunday despite threats from Zuma

IEC plans to declare election results on Sunday amid 579 objections

IEC Chairperson Mosotho Moepye says the commission has received 579 objections from political parties.

This is after several political parties lodged complaints, alleging that the elections were rigged. This also cuts across the election result board being offline for a couple of hours on Friday morning.

Mosotho said the objection could arise given the intense pressure from the parties.

Responding to this, Mosotho said they will hear the matters brought to them by the aggrieved parties.

He announced that the IEC will declare the election results on Sunday.

Moepye says there is no issue in releasing the election results early as they used to do that within three days.

By law, the election results should be declared within seven days after an election and should be announced by the commission.

Mosotho said the country is waiting for the results.

Report by Kamogelo Moichela

Jacob Zuma tells IEC: 'Don't rush to release the results of the elections'

Former President Jacob Zuma has called for the IEC to listen to the grievances of the MK and at least 20 other aggrieved parties such as SARA, ACC, ACT, ACP, ACDP, SUN, COPE, UDM, AADP, PA, Xiluva, CISA, PMC, AHC, AMC, ARA, UAT, AM4C, APC, Al-Jama, UIM, Sarko, ATM and OHM.

Zuma, flanked by several other disgruntled political parties was speaking at a press briefing at the IEC's National Results Operation Centre in Midrand on Saturday night.

The parties have given the IEC until 10pm to respond.Zuma said public institutions such as the IEC had to serve the people.

He questioned why there was a rush to announce the results on Sunday.

While Zuma was speaking, current President Cyril Ramaphosa's office sent a media alert announcing he would be at the Results Operation Centre in Midrand on Sunday at 5pm for the election results announcement.

Report by Sihle Mlambo

Former president Jacob Zuma's MK party is demanding a re-run of the elections amid allegations that votes were rigged.

The allegations were made at a press briefing by MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela.

Zuma sat silent at the briefing.

“You can't fool us. We know exactly what was happening.There is an IT entity which was appointed in Cape Town, that interfered during that two hour period. We can confirm it. They were rigging the system.

The days of owning us us have come to an end. We don't have a manifesto, we have a people's mandate and this is a manifestation of that,” said Ndhlela.

"So with all of that, we are engaging with our legal team, they have stated that we should contemplate a revote. “We want a total revote,” said Ndhlela.

Report by Sihle Mlambo

Zuma arrives at IEC Results Operations Centre

Media swarmed former president Jacob Zuma as he arrived at the Results Operation Centre in Midrand on Saturday night.

Some journalists with cameras fell as they were pushed by the security detail.

Zuma has created a furious buzz at the Results Operation Centre in Midrand.

Journalists were seen falling as they tried to capture images of the former president arriving.

He will address the media from the PLC room shortly.

ANC top seven in talks, prepare for special NEC ahead of coalition talks

According to highly placed sources in the ANC, the party's top seven have been locked in detailed discussions since lunchtime on Saturday to craft various governance proposals that will be presented to a special national executive committee meeting to be held either on Monday or Tuesday.

Multiple sources have told IOL that there is a parallel process using back channels to engage with various potential coalition partners including the DA, the IFP, MK and EFF.

This is in an effort to bring a swift conclusion to the uncertainty that prevails currently.

The ANC has only managed to grab around 40% of the vote and would be forced to go into a coalition with other parties to govern the country.

The sources said that it was in the interest of all political players to put an end to speculation and to calm the waters on country's future leadership.

According to the sources the mood within the ruling party is characterised by one of compromise, and sensible decisions.

This comes against the background of the electoral bloodbath that has reversed the ruling party's dominance in the country's political landscape.

And this is against the background of Cyril Ramaphosa being the first ANC president to lead the part into an electoral defeat since the dawn of democracy in 1994.

We will work with anyone - Gayton McKenzie

An upbeat PA leader Gayton McKenzie said he is happy that the party will be sending about 9 people going to Parliament.

He said although they were not in a rush to form any coalitions, they would work with any political party.

He wants Kenny Kunene to be the next Home Affairs Minister.

“We are not in a hurry to form coalitions. We will work with any party.

“One thing for us, don't waste our time to call illegal foreigners to stay, don't talk to us, Mabahambe,” he said.

McKenzie alleged the DA had stolen the elections in the Western Cape.

“There are 19 political parties saying this. We asked our party agents to vote on special voting day, even they don't appear on the results,” said McKenzie.

McKenzie said they were sending members to the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape legislatures.

Report by Sihle Mlambo

We will work with the ANC - Julius Malema

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema says they are willing to go into a coalition government with the African National Congress (ANC) because "it's the best party to work with, it's declining and will not grow again."

Malema said this was because the ANC was not arrogant and after losing power, they did not go back to the drawing board and fix their mistakes.

"We want to work with the ANC because when compromised, it is not arrogant and when it does not have an absolute majority and it happens that you share power with them, they never recover from losing power.

"If we were to go to the election again in the next two years, the ANC sitting at two percent, they would come with 15%. After losing the elections, they don't do any effort, nothing to change their attitude," he said.

Report by Kamogelo Moichela

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema.

IEC chairperson Moepya says objections can be filled until Sunday evening

IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya has announced that they will allow objections to be filed until 6pm on Sunday.

Moepya said they were committed to allaying any fears and said the current results management process under use during the 2024 elections was developed internally at the IEC with specific compliance with the electoral act.

“The results management process in use was specified, tested and availed by the commission itself. That process required we engage services of professional auditors to ensure it does what it was designed to do,” he said.

The results are being audited by Grant Thornton.

He said all political parties were part of the prices to assess the IEC systems and bring their own auditors via the national political liaison committee.

Moepya said once that was done the systems were sealed for use in the elections.

Moepya said they were sorry about the board glitch on Saturday, but it had not affected other technical systems.

At least seven new parties are going to Parliament

The ANC, DA, MK, EFF and IFP will be the top five biggest parties in the National Assembly.

They will be joined by the PA, ActionSA, FF+, ACDP, UDM, Al-Jama, ATM, Bosa, CCC, Rise Mzansi, Good, PAC and the UAT.

The new parties going to the National Assembly are the MK - with a huge contingent, PA, ActionSA, Rise Mzansi, Bosa, CCC and UAT.

ANC - 40% of the vote - 160 seats

DA - 21.7% of the vote - 87 seats

MK - 14.67% of the vote - 57 seats

EFF - 9.47% of the vote - 39 seats

IFP - 3.88% of the vote - 17 seats

PA - 2.05% of the vote - 9 seats

FF+ - 1.36% of the vote - 6 seats

ActionSA - 1.17% of the vote - 5 seats

ACDP - 0.6% of the vote - 3 seats

UDM - 0.49% of the vote - 2 seats

Rise - 0.41% of the vote - 2 seats

ATM - 0.4% of the vote - 2 seats

Bosa - 0.4% of the vote - 2 seats

Al-Jama - 0.24% of the vote - 1 seat

CCC - 0.23% of the vote - 1 seat

PAC - 0.23% of the vote - 1 seat

UAT - 0.22% of the vote - 1 seat

Good - 0.18% of the vote - 1 seat

The threshold for a seat appears to be around 39,000 votes per seat.

Four other seats will be allocated according to the fractional. The final proportion will be confirmed at the 100% mark, which is likely to be on Sunday.

Report by Sihle Mlambo

Almost there as more than 99% of the votes have been counted

After around three days of counting the IEC has said that 99.19% of voting districts have been counted and updated.

This is how the vote stands:

ANC - 6.3 million votes - 40.24%

DA - 3.4 million votes - 21.71%

MK - 2.3 million votes - 14.67%

EFF - 1.49 million votes - 9.47%

IFP - 612,589 votes - 3.88%

The IEC said around 15.7 million votes have been tabulated.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) noted earlier in the week that its elections projection model tool had predicted the ANC would get around 42%, the DA would get around 22%, the MK would get around 12.8% and the EFF would get around 9%.

The CSIR made its first prediction at the 8.5% of the voting districts count mark.

At that point, Professor Pravesh Debba warned that their MK predictions could be highly inflated or highly understated as they had no previous data to measure the MK. In the 2019 elections, they were just 2% off the mark with the big parties.

The CSIR appear to be just under 2% off the mark with the ANC, less than a percent off for the DA, accurate for the EFF, and understated the MK by 2%.

Report by Sihle Mlambo

Julius Malema accepts election results

EFF leader Julius Malema has announced that the red berets accept the results of the 2024 general elections. Malema expressed satisfaction that they had managed to push the ANC out of total power in the country.

“For the first time since 1994, the parliamentary majority of the ANC is broken and from now parliament will take decisions based on logic and sense and not on the entitlement of being the dominant party,” he said.

Malema says they are willing and they prefer to work with the ANC because when the ANC is in defeated, they are humbled.

He said they wanted to work with the ANC because when they lose, they never recover. He also explained their electoral losses, saying the former president Jacob Zuma backed faction in the ANC was voting for the EFF in 2019 elections. He said this faction had now returned to the MK party and they were content. He said the MK had the biggest impact on ANC voters.

Report by Sihle Mlambo

Do not Try it - MK warns KZN coalition

As political horsetrading begins the uMkhontoweSizwe Party (MK) has moved swiftly to warn parties against trying to stage a coup against the MK majority in KwaZulu-Natal.

"It's clear we are the majority party in that province even as we dispute the election results. Our calculations show we are over the 50% threshold. We have raised several objections and want a recount. But that aside, if there are any coalition talks aimed at keeping us out of power in KZN that's not going to happen,” MK's head of elections, Muzi Ntshingila said.

“Those parties must know we are not going to accept any attempt at silencing us. The people have spoken, loud and clear and we will fulfil that mandate," Ntshingila added.

His comments come amid hints of behind-the-scenes talks of an ANC/DA/IFP coalition in KZN to keep MK at bay which secured 44% of the votes in KZN with just over 97% of votes counted.

Nationally, MK has emerged as the third largest party in the country at 14.79% - knocking out the EFF which secured 9.4% of the votes.

Ntshingila has also moved to ally fears around the uncertainty of an MK government from other party voters in KZN. He hit out at those causing fear-mongering.

"We have remained and will continue to remain a disciplined party for all. Our aim is to rebuild our country based on those principles of inclusivity and security for all. People have suffered under the ANC government, and many have been excluded if you are not politically connected. KZN was captured by a few business people and the wealthy. That era is over. Our priority is service delivery for all," added Ntshingila.

An announcement of the final election results is due tomorrow at 4pm.

Report by Zohra Teke

Velenkosini Hlabisa says MPC meeting is on ‘to close that chapter’

IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa has confirmed several leading political parties, including the MK party, have approached them for informal coalition talks.

Hlabisa said they were delaying all talks until they have a meeting with the other leaders of the Multi-Party Charter on Saturday evening.

“We have had calls saying let us talk. The IFP has taken a principled position to say let us do it correctly. “We are meeting the MPC today and we will find a way to close that chapter,” he said.

IFP leadership will meet on Sunday and then talks can continue with other political parties, before a proposal is taken to the IFP’s national council within a week.

Reported by Sihle Mlambo

IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa addresses the media at the National

Africa Restoration Alliance says something is not right

The Africa Restoration Alliance has raised objections with the IEC over alleged discrepancies with votes.

ARA Secretary General Marion Trout says they have lodged a section 55 objections application for alleged incidents in the Western Cape, Northern Cape and Free State for various criminal activities during the election process.

Trout said they had yet to hear any responses from the IEC. They said they had opened 20 criminal cases with SAPS for fraud, intimidation and assault.

In one instance, their party agent was allegedly physically handled by the presiding officer and kicked out of the voting station.

“If they are transparent and fair, what do they have to hide? We are questioning the integrity of the elections, because if you look at it in a logical way, just numbers and the count slips loaded on the system, when it doesn't correlate, that is a red flag,” she said.

Trout said there were voting stations where people went into voting stations wearing ARA T-shirts but they got zero votes in those voting districts.

“That is highly questionable,” she said.

The ARA has secured 10,765 votes at the 98.72% voting districts counted mark.

Report by Sihle Mlambo

FFPlus' Dr Pieter Groenewald says "too many" mistakes occurred on election day

The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) leader Dr Pieter Groenewald says he is not satisfied with the election results because of "too many" mistakes that occurred on election day May 29.

He is one of the political leaders who have lately slammed the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) and accused it of rigging the elections. They now call for a recount.

Many of the complaints were from the voting stations where people were either turned away or ballot boxes were allegedly tampered with.

This also includes the results board being out of service for almost two hours on Friday morning.

"I am not happy but it is not a matter of cowards or crying...we don't cry, we take full responsibility but that is not acceptable, especially when you have an election where you know it's on a knife edge," he said.

Groenewald said the IEC should have ensured that the small mistakes were dealt with.

- Report and video by Kamogelo Moichela

ACT Leader, Ace Magashule, calls for a recount, says votes were rigged

African Congress for Transformation (ACT) leader Ace Magashule reiterates his position that the votes were rigged.

Magashule told the on Saturday morning that his party has lodged an objection with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), calling for a recount of the elections.

"We are calling for a recount, we are not the only party, we are going to meet with UDM.. we have met with Freedom Front Plus , MK Party, Hope SA and others have gone to court to lodge a complaint," he said.

"We are just waiting for the IEC response... Even in the Western Cape, all parties except the DA are calling for a recount."

ACT leader Ace Magashule told the media on Saturday morning that his party has lodged an objection with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), calling for a recount of the elections.

- Report and video by Kamogelo Moichela

Mmusi Maimane responds to John Steenhuisen: "His math is not mathing"

Build One South Africa Leader, Mmusi Maimane, talks to IOL about the future of his party, and takes a swipe at Democratic Alliance Leader, John Steenhuisen.

Maimane also addressed what he hopes to see in the coming days as South Africa moves to a coalition government.

- Report and video by Kim Kay

10.30am UPDATE

MK rejects the results, calls for recount

The MK party’s head of elections, Muzi Ntshingila, says the party is rejecting the outcome of the results displayed on the results board at the National Results Operation Centre in Midrand.

At midnight, Ntshingila told an impromptu press briefing that they were not satisfied with the response from the IEC after they raised several objections about the results.

He said they were Elections 2024: MK party demands recount.

With the counting of voting districts now at 99% on Saturday morning in KZN, the MK is in the lead in KZN with 1.5 million votes or 44.94%.

“We can't be at 45%,” Ntshingila told journalists.”We can't sit back and watch democracy be destroyed,” he said, alleging the results captured did not match the results from their agents.

Report by Sihle Mlambo

Julius Malema to outline EFF's way forward after poor elections showing

Against the background of less than par electoral performance, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Commander-in-Chief (CIC) Julius Malema is expected to outline the programme for his party going forward on Saturday at Midday at the National Results Operations Centre (ROC) in Midrand.

This is as the party trails behind the likes of the African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA) and the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK).

The EFF is set to lose some of its gains from the last election by as much as two percent.

The top five include the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) with the EFF sitting in fourth place. The Patriotic Alliance (PA) is occupying the sixth spot.

The EFF is well over the one million mark.

- Report by Kamogelo Moichela