News24 analysis: 14% of registered voters turned up to vote by noon - and this figure is low

• By noon on voting day, 3.5 million people had cast their vote. 
• This is about 14% of all registered voters. 
• Analyst Dawie Scholtz said the figures indicate very low voter turnout. 

The Electoral Commission's (IEC) announcement that 3.5 million South Africans had cast their ballots by noon on election day is indicative of low voter turn out. 

This is according to News24 elections analyst Dawie Scholtz. 

The IEC said that by 12:30, over 3.5 million voters had already voted. 

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"We are able to report this because of the use of the voter management devices. The Commission is therefore satisfied with the voting process," said IEC chairperson Glen Mashinini. 

Scholtz said that if the special votes are taken into account, just over four million people had voted by noon. 

"This means it is 14% of the 26.2 million registered voters," he said. 

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Scholtz said the numbers show "very low" turn out. 

"In 2016, turnout was 56%. If we want to reach the 2016 turnout, 11 million have to vote in the next nine hours," he said. 

The IEC said that it could not track in real time what voter turnout was by 12:30 in 2016 as it did not have the voter management devices then. 

"If the IEC data is correct, we are on track for a low turnout in this election," Scholtz said. 

Sample

Tracking a small sample of voting districts in the City of Johannesburg, Scholtz said there is a gap in voter turnout between townships and suburbs with the Northern Suburbs showing higher turnout than Soweto. 

"This will be helpful for the DA and the other parties who benefit from the suburban vote and not for the ANC," he said.