- The 2024 elections were declared free and fair on Sunday night,
- It was marked by a decreased voter turnout and significant challenges.
- There were notable shifts in political representation, with seven new parties entering Parliament.
South Africa's seventh national and provincial elections were declared free and fair by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on Sunday evening.
The chief electoral officer of the IEC, Sy Mamabolo, said: "Election 2024 was like no other before. It had salient features, pointing to an ever-increasing magnitude of political dynamism and effervescent electoral environment and operational complexity."
The chairperson of the IEC, Mosotho Moepya, said: "These elections were undoubtedly the most difficult and the most highly contested as a nation. We have emerged triumphant, having conducted these elections with the utmost transparency, with fairness and with adherence to the high standards."
READ |LIVE: Election 2024 news
President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the IEC for its work and shared a light-hearted joke about Moepya's use of the word, 'extinguished', instead of 'distinguished'.
READ |Cyril Ramaphosa: The 2024 election has revealed our democracy is strong, robust and it endures
Here's what you need to know about the final IEC announcement at the Results Operations Centre in Midrand, Gallagher Estate.
Challenges and key numbers
The ANC lost its majority for the first time since 1994, and dropped to 40%.
Moepya said there were unpreceded challenges the IEC faced, which included: significant attacks on members and key staff of the commission; attempts to undermine the credibility of the IEC and key personnel; relentless and targeted social media attacks; disinformation campaigns; unwarranted allegations; and bare acts of intimidation.
There was also praise for the record 1.1 million special votes.
The voter turnout was 58.61%, which was lower than the 2019 elections (66%).
There were 1.4 million less votes cast this year than in 2019, even though registered voters were almost a million more.
16025198 valid votes were counted, while 27.7 million people were registered.
Spoilt ballots were marginally lower - at about 23 000.
(Sharlene Rood/News24)
(Sharlene Rood/News24)
National Assembly
There are seven new political parties that will represent the South African people in Parliament.
None of the independent candidates made it to Parliament - this being the first time they were allowed to contest for a seat.
There are now 18 parties in the National Assembly, compared to 14 in 2019.
Cope, the AIC and the NFP all exit the National Assembly, having lost their seats.
The ANC lost 71 seats in Parliament, while the DA gained three, and the MK Party scored 58 seats.
The EFF lost five seats, the IFP gained three, and the PA got nine seats.
The FF+ lost four seats, and so join ActionSA, the third new entrant to the National Assembly, on six seats.
READ |Coalition talks: Helen Zille, Tony Leon to lead DA's negotiating team
The UDM and Al-Jama gained one seat, while the ACDP and GOOD lost one.
BOSA, the NCC and Rise Mzansi - also new parties - all scored two seats.
The PAC kept its one seat, while the UAT, another new party, scored one.
Provincial legislature
There will be a coalition in Gauteng, and also in KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Cape.
The seat allocations are a little different from previous elections because it is based on population and number of parties, as calculated by the IEC, and announced earlier this year.
There are 487 seats allocated across the nine provinces, with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal having the highest number of seats - at 80.
Northern Cape and Free State had the least - at 30 each.
There are 19 parties in the legislature, up from 12 in 2019.
Overall, the ANC lost six seats, the DA gained 13 seats, the MK Party is in third spot with 58, four more than the EFF.
The ANC, DA and EFF are represented in all provinces , while the MK Party is represented in eight of nine provinces - the Northern Cape being the exception.
READ | Mcebisi Ndletyana: Coalition quandary: Zuma's KZN conundrum
In Gauteng, the ANC lost nine seats, the DA gained two, and the EFF remained the same.
Of the new entrants the MK Party got eight seats, ActionSA got three, the PA got two, BOSA and Rise Mzansi got one each.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the MK Party leads the provincial legislature, with 37 seats, while the ANC lost 30 seats.
The IFP gained two seats, while the EFF lost six.
The NFP is only other party in the legislature keeping its seat, while the ACDP, Minority Front and ATM exit.
In the Northern Cape, the ANC lost three, the DA lost one and the EFF gained one.
The FF+ kept its seat, while the PA managed to score three seats as a new entrant.
In the Western Cape, there are two new entrants – the PA with three seats and the NCC with one. The DA remains the same, with 24 seats, as does the EFF, with two seats, while the ANC lost four. Patricia de Lille's GOOD also lost a seat.
In Limpopo, there are two new parties – the MK Party and the UAT each got one seat.
The ANC performed the best in this province, gaining 10 seats, while the EFF and the DA also got more seats. This was due to Limpopo's seat allocation being increased from 49 to 64.
In North West, there were five extra seats allocated than in 2019, which helped the ANC gain two seats.
The EFF and the DA gained one each.
The FF+ lost one seat, while MK Party and ActionSA each got a seat.
In Mpumalanga, where 21 new seats were allocated, the ANC gained five, the EFF and the DA gained three each, while MK Party got nine.
ActionSA also makes an appearance in this legislature with one seat, as the FF+ held on to its singular seat.
The Eastern Cape will see the ANC lead, but with one less seat, as the DA gained one.
The EFF got three more seats, as the UDM also increased by one.
Of the two new entrants, the PA will get two seats, and the MK Party will get one.
As the ATM keeps its lone seat, the FF+ is no longer in the legislature.
This is one of two provinces in which the FF+ is not represented, the other being KwaZulu-Natal.
In the Free State, the seats remained the same at 30, and the ANC lost three.
The DA gained one, while the EFF (4) and the FF+ (1) kept its number of seats.
ACT and MK Party enter the legislature with a seat each.
