ANC takes early lead in Tshwane

The result board at the National Results Operation Centre of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), which serves as an operational hub where results of the national election are displayed, in Midrand, South Africa.

Image: Alet Pretorius The result board at the National Results Operation Centre of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), which serves as an operational hub where results of the national election are displayed, in Midrand, South Africa.

By 11am on Friday, the ANC was leading in Tshwane, one of the heavily contested metros in Gauteng, by 193, 779 votes. It was followed by the DA with 150,779 votes.

At the time, 530,345 votes had been completed from the 1,619, 402 people who registered to vote in Tshwane.

The EFF was in the third position with 76,994 votes.

Tshwane, a coalition council led by the DA, is one of Gauteng's troubled metros which last year was hit by the cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal, resulting in the deaths of over 20 people. The council recently faced a strike by municipal workers over salary increases. The protests brought services to a halt for weeks.