The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has counted 100% of votes in the 2014 General Elections.

The figures are preliminary and the official number will be released by the IEC at its national Results Operations Centre (ROC) in Pretoria at 6pm on Saturday.

The ANC received an overwhelming majority of the ballots with 62.16 percent of the vote, down from the 2009 total of 65.9 percent.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will remain the official opposition with 22.22 percent, up from 16.66 percent in 2009.

Newly-formed Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) sealed the third spot with 6.35 percent.

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) finished in fourth place with 2.40 percent of the ballot, compared to 4.55 percent in the 2009 elections.

The National Freedom Party (NFP) came in fifth with 1.57 percent of the vote.

The United Democratic Movement (UDM) came in sixth with one percent of the vote, up from 0.85 percent in 2009.

Other smaller parties that will be represented in Parliament include the Freedom Front Plus, the Congress of the People and the African Christian Congress.

AgangSA will also get a seat in the National Assembly. – SAnews.gov.za

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By lunchtime on Thursday – after the IEC had announced that half of all votes had been counted – analysts and political party leaders were still keeping their cards close to their chest on how they thought their parties would fare once the last votes get counted.

But leaders from the top three parties on the leader board – the African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA) and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) – battled to hide their satisfaction when talking about how they had done so far.

After 3pm, 63.06% of all the national votes had been counted.

The ANC had the lion’s share and led the pack with 63.62%, or 5.97 million votes, followed by the DA at 21.74% (2.04 million votes), with the EFF coming in at third place with 4.93% (463 178 votes).

In spot interviews with SAnews, all parties chose not to put the cart before the horse when pressed for comment.

Gwede Mantashe, the ANC’s Secretary General, said he was “comfortable” with where the party was after lunchtime.

He said, however, that despite half the votes having been counted, it was still too soon to predict how many seats they would have at the end, or whether they will win the elections with a two-thirds majority.

“Although we would like to do much better than we are doing, we are relaxed and comfortable with the progress we are making.

“You remember predictions were putting us below 60%? We are well above the 60% mark. We are doing well. We are going to improve. We have really disappointed our detractors,” he said.

Despite the surprising debut of the EFF into SA politics, who were contending at third place in the national and provincial results, Mantashe said he was not surprised by the trend.

He also said the party was panicking in the morning when numbers from the Western Cape votes came in at below 20% - the DA’s stronghold - but was satisfied with how the results have picked up so far.

DA Parliamentary caucus leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said the party would await more votes to come in from bigger metro cities until they could pronounce whether the party was happy with the outcomes so far.

While the DA’s stronghold has been the Western Cape, they have been hoping to win over Gauteng from the ANC in these elections.

“Until the [votes from metros come in], we don’t have a clear indication of where the votes lies in [Gauteng], but we are very happy with the results that are coming in from other provinces like the Free State, where it looks like we are about to become the official opposition, and KwaZulu-Natal, which looks like a possibility, and the Northern Cape, where were have doubled our support,” she said.

EFF national spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said despite over half the votes being counted, it was too soon to pop the champagne.

“We think that there is still time to speak about comfort later. At the moment, we are calm and still trying to see what the numbers are telling us,” he said.

Political analyst Ebrahim Fakir said trends were pointing to a possibility of the ANC winning 64% of the votes if the voter turnout is high.

He said the EFF’s showing so far was not indicative of how the EFF would do until counting had been done in metro areas. He said, however, it did look like the new party would get a few seats in Parliament. – SAnews.gov.za

Government says it is satisfied that the 2014 General Elections were peaceful and took place in an atmosphere of political tolerance.

“We are pleased by the great turnout of voters, in particular first time voters. Government commends young voters for their commitment to our democracy and the enthusiastic manner in which they participated in their first elections.

“We appreciate the patience of South Africans who conducted themselves in a dignified manner as they waited to cast their vote,” said government in a statement issued by the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).

Government commended all South Africans for the part they have played in making the elections a resounding success.

“Today’s successful election is indeed a testament to the country’s active citizenry which is crucial for any vibrant democracy. The nation’s fifth democratic elections have undoubtedly added to our legacy of regular and peaceful elections.

“The values of freedom, inclusivity and respect for human rights as entrenched in the Constitution, lives on in each and every one of us. Today the voices of millions of patriots reverberated across the nation,” said government on Wednesday evening.

Acting GCIS CEO, Phumla Williams, said: “Government is heartened that South Africans chose to honour our history and strengthened the legitimacy of our democracy by voting.”

Government said that it was further satisfied that the security of the elections were well managed and coordinated through the National Joints Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS).

“Security forces have been on high alert throughout the elections period and to date, 97 individuals have been arrested by law enforcement officials for election-related offences and 131 cases have been registered.”

However, four people are reported to have passed away on elections day. Two people died while waiting to cast their vote, while two party agents were involved in a fatal car accident.

“We wish to convey our deepest sympathy and condolences to their families and loved ones.” – SAnews.gov.za

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The Department of Basic Education has noted the court ruling made today at the North Gauteng High Court on the delivery of textbooks in Limpopo.

“The judgement also confirms what the department had been saying, that textbooks have indeed been delivered to all the schools in Limpopo. Owing to the credibility of the available data and a lack of cooperation from some school principals, who elected not to report shortages to the department, this in turn led to learners experiencing shortages,” the department said on Tuesday.

The judgement comes at a time when a further 271 000 books had been delivered to schools, including those that were part of the court action. Schools that had reported shortages are continuing to receive the books on a daily basis.

The department went further and carried out a second verification process in March 2014, in addition to the verification and audit excise which was carried out in November and December 2013.

Measures to address the shortages from the second verification exercise are already being put in place, and the department says it is confident that all legitimate shortages will be addressed.

The court has noted the department’s commitment to complete all top up deliveries as soon as possible.

“The department will continue to ensure that every learner in every school has a textbook. It is, however, critical to ensure that schools check and report shortages promptly to the department, so as to enable the swift delivery of top up textbooks,” the department said. – SAnews.gov.za

President Jacob Zuma will send three ministers to represent South Africa at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa Summit, the Presidency said on Monday.

The three ministers are Trade Minister Rob Davies, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and Co-operative Governance Minister Lechesa Tsenoli.

The summit, which will attract African political and business leaders, will discuss innovative structural reforms and investments that can help sustain the continent's growth, create jobs and prosperity for all.

The summit will be held from Wednesday until Friday in Abuja, Nigeria.

In a statement, President Zuma said Africa has remained at the centre of the country’s foreign policy.

“We have also prioritised the promotion of regional economic integration, infrastructure development, intra-African trade and sustainable development in the continent.”

He said the World Economic Forum was an important platform to take this agenda forward, especially as it enabled Africa to interact with the world to promote growth and development.

Minister Gordhan will lead the South African delegation to the summit in Abuja, which takes place against the backdrop of a much improved outlook for economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa.

In its most recent regional economic outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa will pick up from 4.9% in 2013 to 5.5% this year -- an acceleration which the IMF ascribed to improved prospects in a large number of countries in the region. – SAnews.gov.za