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Voter registration to close at midnight as Ramaphosa proclaims election date
Meanwhile, Parliament's term will come to a close on 21 May, a few days before voting day.
A voter places his ballot in the box at the Union Building voting station in Pretoria on 1 November 2021. Picture: Jacques Nelles
President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially proclaimed the election date, with South Africa set to head to the polls in May.
This week, Ramaphosa confirmed that the 2024 general elections will be held on 29 May.
This year’s national and provincial elections coincide with South Africa’s 30th anniversary of democracy.
Voter registration deadline
Now that the election date has been proclaimed, South Africans have until the end of Friday, 23 February to register to vote.
The voters’ roll will close after midnight on the day the proclamation is published.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) is expected to meet with the national party liaison committee to finalise an election timetable.
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The timetable, which will outline the various cut-off dates for the performance of certain electoral activities, will be published in a Government Gazette after consultation with the committee.
The IEC had targeted 39.7 million people for this year’s elections, but only 27.6 million have registered to vote so far.
In the 2019 national and provincial elections, the voters roll stood at 26.7 million eligible voters. Voter turnout in the last general election was 66.05%.
When will Parliament’s term end?
Parliament’s term will come to a close on 21 May, a few days before voting day.
This means the elections will be held after the expiry of term of the sixth administration.
Despite the expiry, the voting day will be within the 90 day timeframe mandated by the Constitution for South Africa to conduct elections after the end of the term of the current Parliament.
Secretary to the National Assembly, Masibulele Xaso told MPs on Thursday that there was no need to dissolve Parliament.
“Had the elections been set for before the 21st of May, then the National Assembly would need to dissolve.
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“Another point that we should make is that the National Assembly remains competent to function from the time it is dissolved or its term expires until the day before the next day of calling the next Assembly,” he said during a National Assembly Programme Committee meeting.
Xaso explained that the term was determined on the basis of the first sitting of the National Assembly after the 2019 elections, which was held on 22 May.
“The date of the first sitting marks the commencement of the term hence our term is on the 21st of May,” he said.
