Pretoria - The presidency on Monday urged eligible voters who missed the final voter registration weekend to register at the Independent Electoral Commission's (IEC) offices in all municipalities.
“South Africans must apply for registration on or before the day that the upcoming election date is proclaimed (published in the Government Gazette) by the president, after which the voters' roll is closed for that specific election,” spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement.
“No date has been set as when the proclamation will be issued and gazetted but it is expected that this will happen before the end of February 2014.”
He said eligible voters should make an appointment to apply for registration at their local IEC branch during office hours.
The presidency had received enquiries from people who still wanted to register, he said.
“By law, they must apply in person (no online or e-mail registrations are permitted).”
On Sunday, the IEC said more than one million people registered to vote over the final registration weekend.
“It is estimated that yesterday (Saturday) there was total registration activity of about 1.2 million across the country,” spokeswoman Kate Bapela said at the time.
She said about half of the people who registered to vote on Saturday were new voters aged between 18 and 29.
“Early indications from the country's 22 263 registration stations showed that young people were heeding the call to participate in the elections which mark the 20th year of democracy,” Bapela said.
President Jacob Zuma announced on Friday that the fifth national general elections would be held on May 7.
Sapa