IEC general manager Granville Abrahams briefs the media on Thursday evening at the National Results Operations Centre. (Jan Gerber/News24)

• The IEC lost a ballot box in KwaZulu-Natal.
• With just over 55% of the voting districts, results captured, turnout stood at 58.69%, but is expected to climb as the metros’ results come in.
• Find everything you need to know about the 2024 general elections on News24’s Elections Hub.

Despite one of its around 100 000 ballot boxes going missing, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) stands by its work during the election.

At a media briefing on Thursday evening, IEC general manager Granville Abrahams said a ballot box got lost in uMhlathuze, KwaZulu-Natal.

It was carried in an open vehicle. The ballot box went missing when it was transported from the voting station, Matamzana Dube School in uMhlathuze, to the municipal electoral office for storage.

The ballots in the box have been counted, reconciled and captured, which means the votes contained in that box will be included in the results.

However, the IEC is looking for the box, as they are required by law to keep it for six months.

“We are obviously through our own initiative trying to trace this.

“It is inexcusable, first and foremost, and it is not something that we plan for to find any election material lying around immaterial whether it means anything,” said Abrahams.

“I did emphasise, that on this matter, those votes in the ballot box, it was counted. It was recorded on the result slips.”

He said they do not believe it is a case of negligence.

“But look at it in the context, we have just under 23 000 voting districts, and in this election would have probably had three or more ballot boxes [per voting district]. So, it is more than 100 000 ballot boxes. I’m not trying to make excuses, but I’m talking here about a single ballot box.

“And I don’t think that, under the circumstances, we could regard that as an error given the fact that elections are never perfect.”

By 20:00 on Thursday, 55.65% of the votes had been counted and captured.

Abrahams said they usually hit the 80% mark around 24 hours after the polls closed on voting day.

He said they did expect a bit of a delay this year, as it was the first time that three ballots were used in the eight metros, which contributes more than 55% of the voters’ roll.

“A number of our stations, where we had queues involved, closed late, and coupled with that, it had a knock-on effect with counting,” said Abrahams.

“There are some of the smaller municipalities that are complete and they have packed up and they have gone home. So that is a positive sign.”

Abrahams said that out of the 55.65% of the votes counted, they were seeing a 58.69% voter turnout.

“So, we’re hovering just below 60% with the bigger stations still to come in.”

READ | Elections 2024: Queues and glitches fail to deter voters as higher turnout than 2019’s 66% expected

On Wednesday evening at 20:00, as queues were still circling voting stations, chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said:

Abrahams said the 55% that is already counted is not 55% of the overall result, but it constitutes the percentage of voting districts.

“And the voting districts that are in, are the ones that are smaller, that are closer, probably more rural.”

He said that figure could still change substantially as the votes of the bigger voting districts especially in the metros are captured.

“We don’t know what the overall result is going to be until all the figures are captured.”

Meanwhile, Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) issued a statement in Thursday evening, noting that the counting and verification process is under way, and appealing to the public to remain patient.

“Vote counting is a rigorous process with various checks and balances by the IEC. The length of the process depends on a range of factors, including the number of votes cast and number of political parties contesting the ballot,” reads the statement.

“The IEC is being transparent in the manner in which the results are being captured and verified to ensure the integrity of the electoral processes is not compromised. The results are also audited by independent auditors and then released on the results system for political parties, observers and the media.”

The GCIS noted, as did the IEC, that the law requires the results to be declared within seven days of the election.

“Government reminds South Africans that the IEC is the only institution legally mandated to announce the election results. No other institution, analyst, political party or commentator has the legal directive to communicate the final outcome. We call on all stakeholders to exercise caution in prematurely proclaiming the results,” reads the statement.

“The IEC declaration of results is a statutory requirement that formally ends the election. The process will then shift to the National Assembly.”