Posted on Thursday at 17:40 p.m. 

The official results of the 2021 municipal elections will be released at 6pm on Thursday evening. 

The IEC will make the announcement from the Results Operations Centre in Pretoria. 

Overall, the ANC's support will be below 50 percent for the first time.

In KZN, with 99 percent of the votes counted, it's received 41 percent support.

The party has lost its majority in eThekwini, meaning a coalition government will run the municipality.

ANC Provincial Secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli says the loss of its majority in a big metro has implications for the future of the party.

"The immediate implication that is of concern to us is that it creates an impression and it sets the scene towards 2024 that the ANC, if it doesn't attend to many of the challenges that we have identified, will not be able to come back as a governing party in KwaZulu-Natal. That's the implication of losing the biggest party of your province."  

Meanwhile, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa believes the ANC and DA should team up as parties prepare for coalition talks.

"Let us apply a non-partisan approach. DA and ANC should would together and form a government in those areas, there will be benefits out of that. Race relations will improve in this country. They are not obsessed with ideological differences." 

Julius Malema has admitted people are not ready for an EFF government.

The party has won some wards but no councils in this week's elections.

"They did not elect us. They are not ready to be led by the government of the EFF. But the EFF and lead them through a coalition so when it is a coalition, it is not a government of the EFF it's a coalition government." 

Posted on Thursday at 14:35 p.m. 

The African National Congress (ANC) no longer has a majority in eThekwini Municipality.

KwaZulu-Natal's preliminary election results have been released by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). 

Posted on Thursday at 13:27 p.m. 

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is almost at the finish line as it works to complete the election results.

It says 99.9% of the results are in the system waiting to be scanned audited.

Currently, the Free State is the only province that has completed the result capturing process. KwaZulu-Natal is at 99.5 percent. 

The status of the rest of the provinces ranges between 98 and 99 percent.

The IEC is set to announce the elections results this evening unless the National Freedom Party (NFP) succeeds in interdicting them.

The party wants the release of the results to be put on hold and the votes in eDumbe Local Municipality in northern KZN recounted.

It believes it has won seven wards there instead of the six published by the IEC.

It says it will approach the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday afternoon. 

Currently, there are more than 50 hung municipalities in the country, including at least 10 in KZN.

Coalition talks between parties are set to begin soon.

Click here for live updates. 

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) which has won several municipalities in northern KZN, says its open to discussions with other parties.

The party's national officials are expected to address the matter today. 

"The following issues will be a consideration: The ten-point plan that we presented in the manifesto launch is non-negotiable. The second point is we are defiantly wanting good governance to be the main stain of governance in municipalities," says IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa.

The lesson for coalitions is that work on the issues which you agree on, we cant halfway through then start squabbling because you are comprising the electorate."  

Posted on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. 

Posted on Thursday at 09:30 a.m. 

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says it's received more than 80 objections about the election process.

The commission's Mosotho Moepya explains what they've been dealing with.

"They concern any process that would involve or is potentially going to alter an outcome of an election or one of those complaints that was resolved but someone remains aggrieved on it." 

Posted on Thursday at 08:25 a.m. 

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says eThekwini's votes are being audited. 

The Commission's Sy Mamabolo says: "The slowness in eThekwini the reason there is not so much capturing there have recovered. We don't want to push them, auditors, because we want them to do a thorough job."

Vote counting is taking longer in some areas in KwaZulu-Natal. 

Click here for live updates. 

Posted on Thursday at 08:00 a.m. 

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) will announce the final municipal elections results at 6pm on Thursday.

President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend the ceremony, which will be broadcast live from Pretoria.

Electoral officials will confirm later, whether vote counting has wrapped up in KwaZulu-Natal.

The process is taking longer in some areas. The IEC says load shedding is to blame.

According to the preliminary results, support for the African National Congress provincially stands at 41%, followed by the Inkatha Freedom Party at 23% and Democratic Alliance at 13%.

Electoral officials told the media they wanted to complete the auditing and scanning process in KZN, before Thursday morning.

According to the latest figures, almost 99 percent of the province's votes have been captured.

The results from 23 municipalities have been audited - nine others have almost wrapped up that process.

Lagging behind last night was the hotly-contested eThekwini Metro - where only 47 percent of the ballots had been tallied.

It's taking longer in other areas as well.

Only 37 percent of the results were in for Mtubatuba. Msunduzi stands at 40 percent.

Posted on Wednesday at 18:15 p.m. 

Nearly 97 percent of the municipal election results in KwaZulu-Natal have been captured.

LISTEN: Newswatch's Nushera Soodyal has been tracking the progress at the provincial Results Operation Centre in Durban. 

She's filed this report:

Posted on Wednesday at 16:00 p.m. 

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says nearly 97% of the municipal election results have been captured.

It says 139 out of 257 municipalities have completed the capturing process. 

Seventeen of these are in KwaZulu-Natal.

The IEC's Granville Abrahams gave a breakdown during a briefing at the national results centre in Pretoria.

"In the Northern Cape, we had 95.5%. 88% in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape 83%. Mpumalanga 85.4%. The Free State 87%. 

"In the rest of the provinces, it ranges between 60 and 80%. As previously indicated, the commission remains committed to finalising results expeditiously while taking care to ensure that all the necessary verifications are enforced." 

Abrahams said there are independent auditors at all capturing sites.

Posted on Wednesday at 13:47 p.m. 

The African National Congress (ANC) is leading in the number of votes it's received in KwaZulu-Natal at 42 percent. 

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is currently second with 25 percent, and the Democratic Alliance (DA) third with 11 percent. 

Nationally, 67 percent of the votes are in. 

The ANC is leading with 46 percent, followed by the DA with 22 percent and the  Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 10 percent.

Posted on Wednesday at 12:20 p.m. 

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in KwaZulu-Natal says 87 percent of election results in the province have been captured. 

The commission was left in the dark when load shedding delayed the process on Tuesday. 

Read more here. 

Posted on Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. 

The IFP, which is leading the election race in 15 municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, has claimed victory in nine of them. 

Click here for live updates. 

Posted on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. 

Some 65% of ballots have been processed, with the African National Congress retaining its lead with 46% of the ballots nationally. 

Support for the Democratic Alliance and Economic Freedom Fighters have grown to 22% and 10%, respectively. 

Newswatch has been keeping an eye on the local figures at the IEC's Results Operations Centre in Mayville. 

Electoral officials burning the midnight oil in KwaZulu-Natal say that since last night, they've captured 43% of the province's votes. 

As they knuckle down for a second day of ballot counting, they're confident that the processes will continue to run smoothly. 

Officials are aware that they have some catching up to do, compared to other provinces. 

But they have highlighted that the capturing and auditing of results is a meticulous process that cannot be rushed. 

Provincially, support for the ANC is sitting at 42%, followed by the IFP at 25% and 11% for the DA.

Posted on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. 

As we enter the second day of vote counting, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says it's passed the halfway mark.

With 64% of votes from Monday's local elections counted the ANC has received the lion's share of support in the polls nationally at 46%.

The Democratic Alliance's taken 22%, followed by the Economic Freedom Fighters with 10%.

ActionSA, the country's new political kid on the block, says it's won ward 25 in Newcastle.

On the local front, the ANC is leading the race to win eThekwini Municipality with support sitting at 40%, 30% has gone to the DA and 9% to the EFF.

The Inkatha Freedom Party's made significant strides in a number of municipalities overnight.

The party's leading in Alfred Duma, Ulundi, uPhongolo, Jozini and Umsinga.

The Democratic Alliance says it's going to celebrate its historic win in uMngeni Municipality by holding a victory rally at midday.

The party snatched the municipality from the ANC. KZN leader, Francios Rodgers says mayoral candidate, Chris Pappas - has already put together a plan for his first 100 days in office.

"What it gives us now is a plate form, not as opposition but as governance in the province of KwaZulu-Natal to prove to the people of the province that there where we govern, we govern well." 

Click here for live updates. 

Posted on Tuesday at 18:00 p.m. 

On Tuesday, Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said they expected 90% of the municipal election results to be finalised tonight.

Political analyst, Imraan Buccus expert says it's clear from the election results so far that smaller parties are beginning to eat into the electorate of the big ones. 

Listen below: 

Posted on Tuesday at 17:20 p.m. 

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has claimed victory in the uMngeni Local Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands. 

Posted on Tuesday at 15:27 p.m. 

There's relief from political parties and community leaders that voting day in Zululand was relatively incident-free.

There had been fears of violence. 

Listen: Newswatch' Steve Bhengu reports that with the results coming in, the IFP is so far doing well in the region.

Posted  on Tuesday at 15:10 p.m. 

There will be rolling blackouts from 4pm on Tuesday, a day after South Africans voted in the local government elections.

Eskom's Sikhonathi Mantshantsha says the Stage 2 load shedding will last until 5am on Wednesday morning.

The Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo earlier said they were in discussions with Eskom to ensure minimal disruptions to the vote-counting process. 

Posted on Tuesday at 14:34 p.m. 

Preliminary figures show voter turnout in KwaZulu-Natal at a low 36%.

This is according to the Independent Electoral Commission in KZN. 

Click here for live updates. 

Posted on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. 

The Independent Electoral Commission says the counting of votes at voting stations has been concluded.

At a briefing on Tuesday, Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo said they expect 90% of results to be finalised by this evening.

He says the remainder should be completed 24 hours after that.

Mamabolo says voters who did not appear on the voters roll yesterday but have proof they applied to register before the proclamation of the election date, can still vote.

He says a procedure in the municipal electoral act makes provision for this.

Posted on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m.

Results just in from eThekwini Municipality show that the African National Congress received 75% of the vote so far in the local government elections. 

It's set to be another long day for Independent Electoral Commission officials, who've already counted some 2. 9 ballots nationally.

In the ANC-led eThekwini Municipality, the Economic Freedom Fighters is behind the ruling party with 13% of the vote, followed by the Inkatha Freedom Party at 5%. 

It's set to be a tight race between the ANC and IFP in eNdumeni Local Municipality, north of Durban, where the parties have each received 37% and 39% of the vote, respectively.  

The ruling party's taken comfortable leads in Mpendle, Mpofana, Newcastle and Richmond. 

Early results have put the IFP at the front of the pack in uMfolozi, Mtubatuba and eMadlangeni. 

It's dominating in Nkandla with 58% of the vote, followed by the ANC with 33%.

The Democratic Alliance's looking strong in Umgeni Municipality with 56% and support for the party's sitting at 15% in KwaDukuza. 

The National Freedom Party's garnered 31% of the ballots in eDumbe and 48% in Nongoma.

Click here for live updates. 

Posted  on Tuesday at 9:57 a.m.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the African National Congress' made significant strides with 44% so far, followed by the Inkatha Freedom Party at 23% and Democratic Alliance at 13%.

Newswatch has been keeping a close eye on the numbers coming in at the IEC's Results Operations Centre in Mayville.

For now, the results haven't budged much since Tuesday morning.

As the IEC prepares for another long day of counting, it's set to be a tight race between the ANC and IFP in eNdumeni Local Municipality, north of Durban, where the parties have each received 39 and 38% of the vote, so far.

The governing party's taken comfortable leads in Mpendle, Mpofana, Newcastle and Richmond.

Early results have put the IFP at the front of the pack in uMfolozi, Mtubatuba and eMadlangeni.

It's dominating in Nkandla with 58% of the vote.

The DA's looking strong in Umgeni Municipality with 56%.

The NFP's garnered 51% of the ballots in Ulundi, 33% in eDumbe and 48% in Nongoma.

We're still waiting for the results from a number of key wards.

The figures are still being tallied in places like eThekwini, Umsunduzi and Ndwedwe.