WATCH LIVE: Ramaphosa to address the nation ahead of 2024 elections

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to address the nation on Sunday evening

The president’s address comes just days before the May 29 national and provincial elections.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the address will start at 6pm.

Watch Ramaphosa’s address to the nation live here:

Issues

It is understood Ramaphosa’s address is expected cover a range of issues including South Africa’s readiness to hold free and fair elections, special voting taking place on Monday and Tuesday and national polls on Wednesday.

Ramaphosa is also expected to touch on South Africa’s latest application to International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the order granted Pretoria by the United Nations (UN) top court.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Ramaphosa tells ANC supporters to vote for ‘handsome guy like me’

Elections

Meanwhile, with just two days left before South Africans go the polls, several political parties including wrapped up their election campaigns over the weekend ahead of the national and provincial elections on 29 May.

The elections are expected to be the mostly contested polls since the dawn of democracy 30 years ago.

Election polls expect the governing African National Congress (ANC) to lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since struggle icon Nelson Mandela was voted into power in 1994.

Special votes

With the special voting taking place on Monday and Tuesday, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said it is ready to welcome voters who have qualified for Special Votes in the 2024 National and Provincial elections.

Over 1,668,076 South Africans have been approved for Special Votes, following the 3 May deadline.

The IEC said a total of 624,593 voters will be visited by trained election officers at their homes or places of confinement.

“We are encouraged by the number of special votes received that South African are enthused for this general election.

The provincial breakdown of the Special Votes is as follows

• Gauteng (335,480)
• KwaZulu-Natal (320,010)
• Eastern Cape (286,059)
• Limpopo (159,800)
• Western Cape (137,558)
• North-West (132,627)
• Mpumalanga (126,112)
• Free State (86,908)
• Northern Cape (83,504)

The IEC said special votes will be administered in the presence of representatives of contestants and observers.

ALSO READ: WATCH: DA leader John Steenhuisen tells voters ‘help is on the way’