The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said they are ready to get the ball rolling when they welcome eligible citizens at 23 296 registration stations across the country this weekend.
The IEC declared its readiness to conduct a general registration weekend as part of the programme for the preparations of the 2024 national and provincial elections. Over two days on November 18 and 19, registration stations will operate between 8am and 5pm on both days
The IEC briefed the media today at their offices in Centurion as part of unpacking its readiness for the registration weekend.
IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said they will approach this weekend with a measure of expectation that it will once again provide them with significant registration activity.
Mamabolo said the recently released Census 2022 results indicate that the population has grown to 62 million inhabitants with an estimated 39.7 million voting age population.
“The voters roll currently stands at 26.2 million, representing 66% of the estimated voting age population. We are approaching this registration weekend informed by the national imperative to increase the coverage of the voters roll in all dimensions,” said Mamabolo.
He said that lease agreements pertaining to permanent voting stations have been signed and concluded.
Of these voting stations, 62% are schools, 9.7% are places of worship and the balance of 28% include all other categories, such as community halls and other municipal infrastructure.
Mamabolo announced that there are a further 959 temporary voting stations across the country. The majority of temporary stations are found in Gauteng at 204, followed by the Free State at 180 and Limpopo at 150.
There are 33 mobile voting stations.
He said more than 69 718 staff have been recruited and trained for this registration weekend.
“Out of these appointed staff, 53 028 are female and 16 690 are male. In addition, 35 640 registration staff are under the age of 35, whilst 26 475 are between ages 36 and 50. The balance of 7 603 are 51 years old and above. Crucially, 50 213 of the total staff complement are unemployed persons,” he said.
Mamabolo said the delivery of essential voter registration materials, including VMDs, stationery packs, arrow signs, and document storage boxes, have been provisioned and delivery completed across all provinces.
“Importantly, the registration process does not require the completion of forms at the station and therefore limited time will be spent at the station for actual registration. The voters roll, as it existed at the beginning of October 2023, has been printed and delivered to municipalities. Approximately 260 tons of equipment and material has been handled through our logistics value chain,” Mamabolo said.
He added that since the commission launched the online registration portal in July 2021, a total of 1.1 million registration transactions have been recorded.
“The portal has experienced a hive of activity this year with 52% of all transactions being recorded in the 11 months of the year. New registrations amount to 40.6% of total online registration activity.
“Once again, women are the majority users of the online portal at 56%. Young persons under the age of 29 indicate a strong usage level at 49.6%,” he said.
IEC called on adult South Africans to seize the moment by registering as voters.
Registered voters are encouraged to check the correctness of their details by visiting registration stations over the weekend.
The Star