Political tensions over South Africa’s 2026 local government election results have intensified after the African National Congress and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party lodged formal objections with the Electoral Commission of South Africa over alleged problems in voting, counting and results capturing.
The ANC in Gauteng says it submitted approximately 35 formal objections before the deadline, while the MK Party has challenged the process in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal.
The parties’ objections include claims of differences between results recorded at voting stations and figures captured electronically at the IEC’s results operation centres.
They have also raised concerns about recounts, the voters’ roll and the reconciliation of physical results slips with electronic data.
The IEC has said it is processing the objections and has denied experiencing technical glitches during the election period.
The commission was expected to announce the final results after considering the objections. It said hundreds of objections had been submitted and that each would be assessed through the prescribed process.
ANC says recounts changed ward outcomes
The ANC in Gauteng said it reviewed election outcomes in several areas after receiving reports from its election agents.
The party said some agents had identified differences between results recorded at voting stations and those later captured by the IEC.
“Consequently, the organisation has compiled and submitted formal objections through the applicable electoral processes in areas where concerns regarding the accuracy and integrity of the results have been identified,” the ANC Gauteng said.
“These objections arise from reports and observations by our party agents relating to counting discrepancies, differences between recorded and captured results, and other matters requiring further explanation.”
The party said queries and recounts had already resulted in changes to some initial outcomes.
According to the ANC, revised results confirmed victories for the party in several wards. These included wards 71 and 96 in Ekurhuleni, wards 71, 72, 88 and 89 in Tshwane, and ward 121 in Johannesburg.
The party said other wards remained disputed while it waited for the IEC to make findings on objections submitted before the 5pm Friday deadline.
The ANC said its objections were aimed at ensuring that the final results accurately reflected the votes cast by residents.
It called on the IEC to investigate each complaint and to take corrective action where an objection was upheld.
The Electoral Commission had received 197 objections by Saturday afternoon, according to reporting by EWN. Of those, 54 had been dismissed, eight had been withdrawn and two had been upheld.
The ANC’s Gauteng objections formed part of that wider process.
Sedibeng voters’ roll dispute heads for court
The ANC’s Sedibeng region has separately indicated that it intends approaching the Electoral Court over alleged irregularities in the certified voters’ roll for Emfuleni, Midvaal and Lesedi.
The party said its analysis of a voters’ roll dated 7 August 2026 had identified more than 30 000 questionable records.
These included records without residential addresses and cases in which identical identity details allegedly appeared in more than one voting district.
The party also highlighted unusually high numbers of registered voters linked to individual addresses.
At 23 210 Lerothodi Street in Sebokeng Unit 13, the ANC said 1 582 voters were recorded at the same address.
It said 1 256 voters were listed at 1454 Mareka Street in Sharpeville, while 965 were linked to 14659 Khaketla Street in Sebokeng Unit 11.
A further 779 voters were allegedly registered at 9807 Pula Street in Evaton West.
The ANC also identified 32 182 voter records without residential addresses and 34 cases in which identical identity details allegedly appeared in more than one voting district.
ANC Sedibeng regional secretary Jason Mkhwane said the party would ask the Electoral Court to verify the disputed entries and grant appropriate legal relief.
He stressed that the figures did not, by themselves, prove that individual voters had acted unlawfully.
“The discrepancies do not, by themselves, establish wrongdoing by individual voters,” Mkhwane said.
The ANC said it had previously raised concerns with the IEC before the local elections, including after the Ward 28 by-election in May.
The DA won that by-election from the ANC. The voters’ roll dispute was also taken before the Electoral Court.
The ANC said its current concerns were not intended to undermine residents’ choices but to protect confidence in the electoral process.
Its legal team was expected to advise on the wording of the proposed application and the specific orders it would seek.
MK Party supports ANC’s Sedibeng objection
The MK Party’s Sedibeng region has associated itself with the ANC’s objection over the voters’ roll in Emfuleni, Lesedi and Midvaal.
In a letter to the IEC, MK Party Sedibeng treasurer George Mollo said the party supported the ANC’s objection in full.
“uMkhonto weSizwe, Sedibeng region, hereby formally submit its support for and associates itself fully with the objection lodged by the ANC Sedibeng region,” Mollo said.
He said the objection had been submitted under Section 65 of the Electoral Act and related to alleged electoral irregularities and fraud on election day.
The support is significant because the ANC and MK Party are otherwise competing political organisations. Their agreement on the Sedibeng complaint reflects the seriousness with which both parties view the voters’ roll concerns, although the allegations still require consideration through the legal process.
MK Party demands eThekwini results audit
The MK Party has lodged a separate objection involving eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.
Acting secretary-general Lindiwe Makubu wrote to IEC commissioner Titi Pitso on Friday, alleging systematic problems during voting, counting and electronic results capturing.
The party focused on the IEC’s eThekwini results operation centre, where it alleged that a system failure disrupted live results capturing and data transmission.
Makubu said the alleged breakdown affected data streams and compromised the visible audit trail.
“While results capturing remains active, severe arithmetic and physical mismatches have been identified,” she said.
“Monitored numbers captured electronically on the ROC leaderboards deviate systemically from the certified copies of the results slips filled out and countersigned by party agents at individual voting stations.”
The MK Party has not presented those allegations as a court finding. It is asking the IEC to investigate them and to preserve the disputed electronic data while the objection is considered.
The party wants disputed data to be quarantined and the processing of affected results to be suspended until an open audit has taken place.
It has also requested a forensic technical explanation of the alleged network failure at the eThekwini results operation centre.
The explanation, according to the party, should include verification logs showing whether data packets were altered during the alleged downtime.
The MK Party further wants an independent forensic systems analyst, appointed by the contesting parties, to examine the results-processing backend, source-code operations and physical ballot reconciliations.
“Capturing for these segments must be frozen until an open audit is conducted,” Makubu said.
“The IEC must issue a transparent, forensic technical explanation detailing the operational architecture of the network glitch experienced at the eThekwini ROC, including verification log of all data packets altered during the downtime.”
The MK Party also wants the IEC to delay the final announcement and gazetting of the election results until the objections, verification disputes and quarantine requests have been resolved.
IEC says objections are part of election process
The IEC has maintained that it is processing the objections through the established electoral procedures.
The commission said objections closed on Friday and that officials were assessing every submission before the final announcement.
IEC spokesperson Vusi Vuma said the commission had not experienced technical glitches during the election week.
He said voter turnout stood at about 45% and that the commission was using its checks and controls to ensure that voters cast ballots where they were registered.
“We did not have any glitches technically, and we are looking forward to tomorrow when the commission will be announcing the results,” Vuma said.
“At this point, we are currently busy with objections. The objections closed yesterday; we received hundreds of them, and it’s part and parcel of the process. We’re going to process each and every one of them.”
The IEC’s statement directly conflicts with the MK Party’s description of a system failure at the eThekwini results operation centre.
The commission has not accepted the party’s allegations that electronic data was altered or that the results-capturing process was compromised.
Whether any results are changed will depend on the IEC’s investigation of the objections, recounts and verification records.
eThekwini becomes key political battleground
The dispute over eThekwini carries particular political importance because the MK Party has made substantial gains in KwaZulu-Natal and was leading the count in the metro as results were being processed.
At the time of reporting, the MK Party had about 41.09% of the eThekwini vote and 27 seats, according to figures reported by IOL. The DA was on approximately 23.09% and seven seats, while the ANC was on about 17.06%.
The IFP had approximately 6.64% and two seats at that stage of the count.
The figures remained subject to the completion of counting and the handling of objections.
The ANC previously controlled eThekwini, making the MK Party’s performance one of the most closely watched developments in the local elections.
Any confirmed changes to ward or party totals could affect the balance of power and the negotiations required to form a governing coalition.
The MK Party’s objection does not, by itself, overturn the results. It requires the IEC to examine the allegations and decide whether corrective steps, recounts or other action are justified.
Parties await IEC findings
The ANC and MK Party have both demanded transparency from the IEC, although their complaints concern different parts of the election process.
The ANC’s Gauteng objections focus on alleged discrepancies between voting-station records and captured results, while its Sedibeng complaint concerns the voters’ roll.
The MK Party’s eThekwini objection focuses on electronic data, results operation centre processes and the reconciliation of physical results slips.
Both parties say the objections are intended to protect the integrity of the vote.
The IEC says objections are a normal part of the electoral process and that it will consider every complaint before finalising the outcome.
The commission must now account for the discrepancies raised by the parties while maintaining the integrity and security of the election data.
Until that process is complete, the disputed figures remain allegations rather than established evidence of fraud or manipulation.
The final outcome will depend on the IEC’s findings and any further challenge brought before the Electoral Court.