Metro urges residents to register to vote
Registrations will take place on January 26 and 27.
The City of Ekurhuleni urges all residents who are eligible to vote in the upcoming national and provincial elections to register to vote on January 26 and 27.
In terms of the Constitution, the term of the current national assembly and provincial legislatures ends on May 6 and elections must be held within 90 days thereafter.
“Residents who have not collected their IDs from home affairs are also encouraged to collect them,” said Themba Gadebe, the metro’s spokesperson.
“The required form of identification to register to vote is a green, barcoded South African ID book, smart ID card, or valid Temporary Identity Certificate (TIC).”
Gadebe also mentioned that a passport, driver’s licence, certified copy of ID or any other form of identification besides the three mentioned, are not acceptable forms of identification.
“As of November 2018, there was about 19 150 smart IDs and 1 528 green bar-coded IDs that were left uncollected at home affairs offices in Ekurhuleni,” said Gadebe.
“Furthermore, uncollected IDs hamper the metro’s service delivery programmes because residents can’t register for other municipal programmes, such as RDP housing and can’t collect their title deeds when they are available for collection.
Among the other services residents miss due to lack of IDs are enlisting on the metro’s indigent database for which they are entitled to free water, free electricity and indigent rebates on assessment rates.”
Residents can call the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on 0800 60 11 90 or SMS their ID numbers to 32810 (charged at R1) to get their registration status and their voting stations.
Such information can also be found on the commission’s website on www.elections.org.za.
Those who registered in a different province from where they last voted, will not be able to vote in the provincial elections unless they register to vote in their new province.
The country’s 22 932 voting stations will open from 8am to 5pm on January 26 and 27 to allow new voters to register and existing voters to update and check their registration details.
