The counting process is underway in the country and at the moment in the Free State, the top three parties are the ANC, DA and EFF.  

It is a quiet morning in Bloemfontein as IEC officials at the voting stations are still counting the ballots.  

The elections results page indicates that there are 1.08% spoilt votes in the province so far and 98.92% valid ones. Voting stations closed at 21:00 on Wednesday evening (29/5) and people who were in the lines after that time were still assisted.  

“Currently we are sitting at 11% of the voting districts that have been counted and there are 23,000 voting districts,” said political analyst Theo Venter.

“The percentages that are available provide us with a broad indication but it is way too early to make final predictions about where the election is going.”

“In the Free State, the ANC is easily running ahead, but the number of voting districts counted is still very low,” said Venter.

The Free State Department of Health confirmed that there were a few medical emergencies at different voting stations – at St. Michael’s School and Mahlohonolo Primary School in Botshabelo.  

To everyone who waited in line to vote ???: thank you for your patience. And a special thank you to the thousands of IEC officials and stakeholders who made #SAelections24 happen, we see you. We could not have done it without you. It's your democracy, own it! ???? pic.twitter.com/lUmX2F0T56

— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) May 30, 2024

Youth came out in their numbers on Wednesday to cast their votes and a huge percentage of them were first-time voters.  

“We can confirm that the voting process unfolded without significant disruption,” said Free State police commissioner Baile Motswenyane. “All operations proceeded as planned.”

The counting of the votes is continuing in the province. It could take up to two days to finish counting, so final results could be announced over the weekend.

OFM News/Zenande Mpame cg