Developing story: voting is under way and counting has not been confirmed to have started.
Government has warned against fake election results as South Africans vote in the local government elections. Only results declared by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) are official.
The warning
Deputy government spokesperson William Baloyi said: "The right to vote was a hard-won victory for South Africans."
He added: "Government cautions against the deliberate circulation of unsubstantiated allegations, fabricated election results, manipulated videos and misleading claims intended to discredit the IEC or create unnecessary public anxiety."
How counting works on the day
The IEC says special votes cast on 2 and 3 November were not counted on those days. They are counted together with the ballots cast on Election Day, 4 November.
A total of 1,425,942 special votes were cast across Monday and Tuesday, according to the IEC chairperson, Mosotho Moepya, at a briefing at the National Results Operations Centre in Midrand.
Voting stations are scheduled to be open from 7am to 9pm. Campaigning had to stop at midnight before Election Day.
How to tell what is official
- Treat a result as unconfirmed until the IEC has declared it.
- Be cautious about screenshots, forwarded messages and videos that show "results" before counting is complete.
- Check the IEC's own official channels for updates.
Moepya urged voters, political parties, independent candidates and observers to uphold the principles of democracy.
What we do not yet know
- The time at which the IEC expects to declare results. It was not stated in the material reviewed.
- Whether there have been any disruptions at voting stations today.
