ANC Free State optimistic of 50+ majority victory in the Province

As echoed by Free State Premier and African National Congress (ANC) chairperson in the province, Mxolisi Dukwana when he confidently predicted that the ruling party would easily retain its three-decade stranglehold in the province – this is clear as the party now lead the chart with over 53.56% of the votes counted.

As of 8pm this evening, the ANC in Free State is leading the par with over 164,376 (53.56%), while the Democratic Alliance (DA) stands at 65,481 (21.42%), with Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the third place with 37,337 (12.2%).

A total of 48.36% votes have been confirmed to have been counted in the province. However, this number may change as the capturing of counted votes continues.

Head of elections in the province, Saki Mokoane, said the ANC was in fact claiming some of its lost ground.

“The fact of the claim that we’ve claimed a number of wards, in particular we are set to claim about two wards that would been won by the other party is a significant indication that the organisation is recovering well and renewal is beginning to pay off.”

He added that the party’s campaign was not threatened by other parties.

“We’ve never been worried about any other party, we have been focusing on the ANC, so that we can really get to achieve the set milestones. So, the results that you see on the dashboard are beginning to be a confirmation that we are on course to achieve the targets which we’ve set for ourselves,” said Mokoane.

During the evening briefing the IEC says the capturing of the results and scanning and auditing of the votes must be verified. In the system the IEC says it 55%.

IEC confirmed during the briefing that one ballot box has been lost in Kwazulu-Natal, after it was transferred to another location. But the results have been recorded into the system.