Political parties are only expecting the elections to take place later this year, and DA legislature member, Mr Bosman Grobler, suspects that the elections will only be held in August, as President Jacob Zuma has a leeway of three months, either before or after the last elections were held, to decided on a date.

The first registration weekend will take place this coming weekend, and voting stations will be open from 08:00 until 17:00 to accommodate the electorate.

It is important to note that some voters will have to re-register in other wards, following the delimitation of certain wards.

The wards affected in Middelburg are:

• Ward 10 – Eastdene Community Hall and Hlalamnandi tent station, where ward boundaries changed and the Kanonkop and Dennesig and Nasaret residents who previously voted at Nasaret Community Hall, have been removed from the ward.

• Ward 11 – Faith Revival Miracles Centre opposite Hope City where ward boundaries have been changed and the Laerskool C.R. Swart voting station, has been removed.

• Ward 12 – Corpus Christi Church, Aerorand, where ward boundaries have changed and the Middelburg Primary section removed.

• Ward 13 – Laerskool C.R. Swart, Bezuidenhout Hall and Middelburg Primary, where ward boundaries changed and the C.R. Swart section added, and Breintjieland Pre-school section has been removed. Voters registered at C.R. Swart are advised to re-register.

• Ward 14 – NG Ligkruis Church in Gholfsig, and the tent station in Hospital Street, where boundaries have changed to include the Anglical Church voters in West Street, will now have to vote at the tent in Hospital Street.

• Ward 15 – Hoërskool Kanonkop where the upper part of Kanonkop, previously eligible to vote in Ward 10, have been added. Voters registered in ward 10 are advised to re-register.

• Ward 16 – Tent station at the park opposite Church of Today and Dennesig Primary, where the section between Njala- and Sipres Road, have been removed from ward 10, and added to Ward 16. Residents previously voting in Ward 10, should re-register at the schools.

Residents can check their registration particulars by sending their ID numbers to 32810.

Voters must be registered in the ward in which they reside, and to vote, you’ll need a Green coded ID book, temporary ID or new ID card.

Passports may NOT be used for registration purposes.

There will also be voting stations at Hendrina’s Municipal offices, Koornfontein School, Bank Recreation Club, Koornfontein Recreation Hall, Pullenshope Community Hall, Laerskool Rietkuil, Arnot Hall, Nasaret Community Hall, as well as Breintjieland Pre-school and Olifants River Lodge.

According to Steve Tshwete’s IEC coordinator, Mr Elvis Ngcobo, the IEC is geared for the registration weekend and two IEC representatives, plus one overseer, will be posted at each voting station to assist residents to register or re-register.

He says the municipal IEC offices have not received any party candidate lists for the upcoming elections, and only envisage the deadline of list submissions after President Jacob Zuma has announced the election date, followed by the consequent deadline determination for list submission decided on by the IEC.

Political parties will also be out in full force this coming weekend to assist their voters with registration, and those who are undecided.

Residents in the above mentioned areas will receive a generic SMS to tell them to re-register and it is every voter’s responsibility to make sure they are registered in the area where they need to vote for the up and coming elections.