It’s all systems go for this weekend’s voter registration with voting stations once again open from 08:00 to 17:00 today.

Thousands of eligible voters are expected to go and register with the Electoral Commission (IEC) this weekend to vote in next year’s general elections.

The IEC encouraged young people who are eligible to vote, to go out in their numbers and register so they can participate in next year’s elections.

The Electoral Commission’s Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo, urged young people of South Africa to take advantage of the registration weekend.

“The Electoral Commission declares its readiness to conduct a general registration weekend as part of the programme for the preparations for the 2024 national and provincial elections,” he said.

“Opening of all registration stations this weekend provides equal opportunity to all South Africans to access the voter registration process. Registration weekends provide us with the greatest registration yield in comparison with other methods.”

Interesting numbers

• 23 296 voting stations across the county.
• 62 million people in South Africa, with an estimated 39.7 million being of voting age.
• Currently 26.2 million (66% of estimated voting age) is registered to vote.
• Permanent voting stations: 62% are schools, 9.7% are places of worship and 28% include all other categories such as community halls and other municipal infrastructure.
• 959 temporary voting stations across the country.
• 69 718 staff members have been recruited and trained for this registration weekend.
• 53 028 are female and 16 690 are male.
• 35 640 registration staff are under the age of 35, whilst 26 475 are between ages 36 and 50.
• 50 213 of the total staff complement are unemployed persons.

To ensure that all eligible voters are able to register this weekend, the Department of Home Affairs will open its offices to allow citizens to collect and to apply for their identity documents.

The offices will be open between 08:00 and 17:00 on both days on the weekend.

The commission also encourages registered voters to check the correctness of their details by visiting the registration stations over the weekend. – SAnews.gov.za