It is too early to declare any kind of victory, Democratic Alliance (DA) Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate Athol Trollip believes.

But so far, the Eastern Cape party leader is happy with the results. The DA is currently in the lead in Nelson Mandela Bay, but only 33% of the votes have been captured.

Having only slept for two hours and keeping vigil at the local Independent Electoral Commission results centre, Trollip told News24 that right now, things were looking positive for the DA.

“I’ve got the results from the Northern Areas and they are really encouraging. You will know there was a lot of speculation about the Northern Areas and Danny Jordaan having grown up there and that the DA was going to lose the Northern Areas - it's absolutely not true.”

He said the results have spoken for themselves.

“I believe we have at least won 9 of the 12 wards in the Northern Areas and won them comprehensively. And one of those was an ANC [African National Congress] ward.”

Some of the results are yet to be verified.

"It looks like in our traditional voting areas people came out in good numbers," Trollip said.

Low voter turnout was a concern, he added.

The suppressed voter turnout could be attributed disillusionment with the ruling party, he said.