Over half of the results of the 2011 local government elections had been finalised by early Thursday morning, an Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) official said.

"We are just over halfway," said electoral manager Stuart Murphy before 10:00.

All the votes had already been counted and 54% had gone through the rigorous checking and capturing process carried out by the IEC.

Counting of the ballot papers began the moment polls closed on Wednesday night.

When the counting was completed, results slips were be filled out and these were be transported to municipal IEC offices for the capturing of the results.

External auditors checked the scanning of the results slips and, for those finalised, the formula for calculating proportional representation was run.

"The results then start feeding through," said Murphy, working with a team in the centre of the results centre.

"So far 54,2% have been captured, audited – done and dusted," he said.

National results after 10:00 showed that so far, the African National Congress had 62,59% of the vote, the Democratic Alliance 23,78% and the Congress of the People 2,8%.