iLembe district records strong voter registration turnout

Nearly two thirds of eligible voters in iLembe district are now registered for next year’s general elections.

Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) regional supervisor Paul Daniel said he had been excited by the turnout over this past voter registration weekend.

Altogether 8 762 new voters registered for the first time, 23 482 re-registered and 12 503 changed their voting stations, bringing the total processed to 44747.

There were slightly more women (4671) than men (4091).

According to Stats SA there are 555 822 adults in the iLembe district, of which 352 262 (63.37%) are now registered to vote.

Most voters are aged between 30 and 39 (26.94%), followed by voters between the ages of 20 and 29 (20.65%) and 40 to 49 (19.84%).

Of the four municipalities in the iLembe region, KwaDukuza had the highest turnout this weekend at 18 180, followed by Ndwedwe with 10 806, Mandeni at 8 973 and Maphumulo with 6 788.

Most registrations were at voting stations (43 365) and 1 382 residents opted for online registration.

Daniel said: “It exceeded our expectations. IEC sets an annual target for each municipality, from April to March. We met that target in the 8th month of the year.”

He said there would be a second opportunity to register, probably at the beginning of February next year.

In addition to the registration stations, residents can register online through the IEC website (registertovote.elections.org.za) or by visiting the IEC offices in KwaDukuza.

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