The IEC wants a postponement of the 27 October polls, saying on Monday it would 'urgently approach the Electoral Court to postpone eight by-elections'.
The ANC has emerged strongly following Wednesday’s by-elections in 40 wards across seven provinces.
The party lost one ward but managed to retain 27 wards and won three new wards.
This was confirmed by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in a statement on Thursday.
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By-elections were held in the Eastern Cape (7 wards), Free State (2), Gauteng (16), KZN (7), Limpopo (4) and Mpumalanga (4) to replace councillors who had either been fired, resigned from their parties or are deceased.
According to the final results, the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and the IFP managed to beat other small parties. The PA won two new wards while the IFP retained one ward and won another.
The DA has continued to suffer losses in the by-elections. The party retained six wards but lost four others. The ANC successfully reclaimed ward 7 from the DA in Johannesburg.
The average turnout was 31.94% with the highest turnout being 36.63% (ward 28 in Mnquma local municipality in the Eastern Cape) and the lowest 6.64% (ward 58 in the Tshwane metro).
The next round of by-elections will be on 30 June 2021 for nine municipal wards in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Western Cape.
Voter registration will be held this weekend, 22-23 May 2021, and voting stations will be open from 8am to 5pm.
Meanwhile, the IEC is set to address the nation on Thursday at 2pm to review whether the “current conditions are conducive or not” for the local government elections on 27 October 2021.
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