Elections declared free and fair: Who won what and by how much?

The ANC remained the most popular party in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections (NPE), taking 159 National Assembly seats – 86 regional and 73 national. The DA has retained its position as the main opposition party, securing 87 seats – 45 regional and 42 national seats.

New kid on the block, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), led by former president Jacob Zuma, overtook the EFF by securing 58 seats, as opposed to the EFF’s 39.

Mosotho Moepya, the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of South Africa, known as the IEC, declared the results of the elections as free and fair during the official results announcement in Midrand tonight.

The voter turnout was 58.61%, over 7% less than the 66% in 2019; 16 025 198 valid votes were cast, and there were 212 518 spoilt votes, which equates to 1.31%.

The results

With the ANC losing 71 seats in the National Assembly, here are the results for the provincial and regional seats.

Provincial results

Gauteng: ANC 28, DA 22, EFF 11, MK 8, ActionSA 3.

KZN: MK 37, IFP 15, ANC 14, DA 11, EFF 2.

Western Cape: DA 24, ANC 8, PA 3, EFF 2.

Eastern Cape: ANC 45, DA 11, EFF 8, UDM 3, PA 2.

Free State: ANC 16, DA 7, EFF 4, ACT 1, MK 1.

Limpopo: ANC 48, EFF 9, DA 4, MK 1, UAT 1.

Mpumalanga: ANC 27, MK 9, EFF 7, DA 6, ActionSA 1, VF+ 1.

North West: ANC 23, EFF 7, DA 5, ActionSA 1, MK 1, VF+ 1.

Northern Cape: ANC 15, DA 7, EFF 4, PA 3, VF+ 1.

National Assembly (regional seats)

Eastern Cape: ANC 16, DA 4, EFF 3, PA 1, UDM 1.

Free State: ANC 6, DA 2, EFF 2.

Gauteng: ANC 17, DA 13, EFF 6, MK 5, ActionSA 2.

KZN: MK 19, IFP 8, ANC 7, DA 6, EFF 1.

Limpopo: ANC 16, EFF 3, DA 1.

Mpumalanga: ANC 8, MK 3, DA 2, EFF 2.

North West: ANC 8, EFF 3, DA 2.

Northern Cape: ANC 3, DA 1, EFF 1.

Western Cape: DA 14, ANC 5, PA 2.

National Assembly (national seats)

ANC: 73

DA: 42

MK: 31

EFF: 17

IFP: 8

PA: 5

VF+: 4

ActionSA: 4

ACDP: 3

Watch the announcement of the official results:

2024 National and Provincial Elections Results Announcement https://t.co/K4Ty3vJWQP

— IEC South Africa (@IECSouthAfrica) June 2, 2024

 

Work for the good of the country

Speaking as the president of the republic, Cyril Ramaphosa shared this message for the parties: “As we take our seats in the National Assembly in Parliament and in the provincial legislatures, let us remember the seats do not belong to us, they belong to the people of South Africa.”

He said the parties must work and act together for the good of the country and find common ground to address challenges peacefully, within the rule of law.

Keeping his characteristic humour despite the ANC having lost the absolute majority for the first time since 1994, Rampahosa donned his hat of president of the ANC and laughingly told Moepya: “How I wish the mistake you made in saying these were the 2019 elections were true.”

Moepya said the NPE was a ‘significant milestone of continued growth, the nation’s electoral processes, and the deepening of its democracy.

Despite social media attacks, disinformation campaigns, and acts of intimidation, he said the IEC persevered and kept its focus. “These elections have tested our strength and the strength of our institution,” he said, adding that they were the ‘most difficult and the most highly contested’.

“There were times we never knew what day of the week it was,” he said.

The results ceremony went off smoothly, despite the MK saying yesterday that ‘nobody is going to announce [the results] tomorrow’.

The MK posted on X this evening: “IEC in KwaZulu-Natal’s Ntombifuthi Masinga admits that there are errors in the election results, and they are correcting them, before the election is gazetted.”

IEC in KwaZulu-Natal’s Ntombifuthi Masinga admits that there are errors in the election results, and they are correcting them, before the election is gazetted. pic.twitter.com/E4rTCr1AtV

— uMkhonto WeSizwe Party (@MkhontoweSizwex) June 2, 2024

IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said ‘operational and technical glitches notwithstanding’, the election was credible, as borne out by observers and the Human Sciences Research Council’s Election Satisfaction Survey, in which voters ‘overwhelmingly believe the elections were free and fair’.

However, he said the IEC will scrutinise any gaps identified in the electoral process so that they can be addressed.