About this data
Where the figures come from
Every result here is published by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC). Almost all of it comes from the IEC's online results system, the same data as its own results site, results.elections.org.za. ESP is independent of the IEC and doesn't change any figure.
A few things come from documents the IEC publishes:
- 1994 elections: the IEC's published 1994 results, because 1994 isn't in its results system.
- 2026 candidates: the IEC's certified candidate list (16 Sept 2026), until the IEC's results system publishes 2026 candidates. We show 136 718 candidates across 4 485 wards and the party lists. The IEC's published total is 136 790; its list has 136 722 rows, and 4 of them have no candidate name, so they aren't shown.
- 2026 voting stations: 23 696 stations (name, address and location) from the IEC's voting station list for the 2026 local elections. Station names and addresses are shown for 2026 only: the IEC's lists for earlier elections carry today's names (for example "Gqeberha" in 1999), so they can't be shown as those elections' stations.
- Maps: each election's own voting-district boundaries from the IEC's map service where it has them (2021, 2019 and 1999), otherwise the IEC's 2026 voting districts. 2024 pages use the 2021 shapes, because 2024 was held on the 2021 wards. Every map says which boundaries it uses. The 1994 and 1999 province boundaries are drawn from the IEC's 1999 voting districts and the Municipal Demarcation Board's 2000 wards.
Last updated from the IEC: 28 Oct 2026, 13:53 SAST.
What we work out ourselves
Some figures are sums or percentages of IEC figures. The page they're on says so.
- Ward results in national and provincial elections, and ward PR results in local elections: the IEC publishes these per voting district, so a ward's result is the sum of its voting districts.
- Percentages are each party's share of the valid votes the IEC counted.
- Turnout is the IEC's own figure. Where it doesn't match the IEC's counts of votes cast and registered voters, we calculate it from those counts instead.
- Votes cast in local elections are counted per ballot (ward, PR and DC 40%); a figure across ballots is the sum of the ballots.
Before a page shows results, we check them: votes add up to the IEC's totals, valid plus spoilt ballots equal votes cast, and seats add up to the seats available. A page that fails isn't shown. Smaller inconsistencies in the IEC's own figures are listed below, and on the page they affect, never hidden or quietly corrected.
More about ballots, turnout and voting districts: questions and terms.
Where the IEC's figures don't add up
We found these inconsistencies in the IEC's own data on 1 998 pages. We publish them as found, each with what we show instead, and explain them on the page they affect.
Municipalities with no wards in the IEC's records
The IEC's list of wards for that election has no wards for these municipalities, so there are no ward results for them. The municipality's own result is the IEC's.
A party's total across ballots doesn't match its ballots
In local elections the IEC also publishes each party's total across the ward, PR and DC 40% ballots. For these parties (by IEC party number) that total differs from the party's votes on the ballots themselves. We show each ballot's own votes.
The total across ballots doesn't match the parties' votes
The IEC's total of valid votes across all ballots differs from the sum of its party figures. We show each ballot's own totals and don't publish the IEC's total across ballots.
The IEC's turnout doesn't match its own counts
The turnout percentage the IEC publishes doesn't match its own counts of votes cast and registered voters. We show the turnout calculated from those counts.
Parties listed twice by the IEC
The IEC's results list every party twice, with identical figures. We count each party once; the parties then add up to the IEC's total of valid votes.
The IEC's percentages use a different total
The IEC's party percentages were worked out from a slightly different total than the valid votes it counted. We show each party's share of the votes the IEC counted.
Fewer registered voters than votes cast
The IEC lists fewer registered voters than votes cast, so turnout can't be worked out. We show the votes but no turnout.
Elections on this site
- 2026 Local Government ElectionsResults from election night
- 2024 National ElectionComplete
- 2024 Provincial ElectionsComplete
- 2021 Local Government ElectionsComplete
- 2019 National ElectionComplete
- 2019 Provincial ElectionsComplete
- 2016 Local Government ElectionsComplete
- 2014 National ElectionComplete
- 2014 Provincial ElectionsComplete
- 2011 Local Government ElectionsComplete
- 2009 National ElectionComplete
- 2009 Provincial ElectionsComplete
- 2006 Local Government ElectionsComplete
- 2004 National ElectionComplete
- 2004 Provincial ElectionsComplete
- 2000 Local Government ElectionsComplete
- 1999 National ElectionComplete
- 1999 Provincial ElectionsComplete
- 1994 National ElectionComplete
- 1994 Provincial ElectionsComplete
Questions or corrections
Spotted a figure that doesn't match the IEC, or have a question about these results? Email support@esp.info and tell us the page you were on.