The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) remains encouraged after the second voter registration weekend, held on August 1 and 2, resulted in 1.7 million voter registration transactions.

IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo, who briefed the media on August 3 in Pretoria, explained that citizens interacted with the IEC’s voter registration portal or one of the 23 699 voter registration stations.

“Of the 1.7 million transactions registered, 291 00 were people registering for the first time. Additionally, 1.5 million people were already registered, but inspecting and updating their registration details.”

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Kwa-Zulu Natal recorded the highest registration transactions with 427 592.

Gauteng recorded 314 856, Eastern Cape recorded 313 797, Limpopo recorded 209 000, Western Cape recorded 134 000, Mpumalanga recorded 133 000, North West recorded 116 000, the Free State recorded 9 700, and North West recorded 47 000 transactions.

Mamabolo noted that in-person registration applications continue to be the leading mode of registrations, seeing 1.5 million users from the 1.7 million registered people.

Provincially, Kwa-Zulu Natal comprised the largest number at 386 000. Eastern Cape followed at 295 000 and Gauteng at 228 000. “The online portal contributed 238 000 transactions over the two days of registration.

The highest usage of the online registration platform was recorded in Gauteng with 86 000, followed by Kwa-Zulu Natal at 41 000, and the Western Cape at 33 000. This is unsurprising because these are the provinces with the highest concentration of urban populations.”

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The CEO stated that from the total 1.7 million transactions recorded, young people, from 16–29, accounted for 485 757, which was 26%.

“What is encouraging is that 46% of the new registrations are by voters under the age of 29. Kwa-Zulu Natal leads in the youth category with 137 000, Eastern Cape recorded 79 000, and Gauteng recorded 78 000.”

In terms of gender, Mamabolo highlighted that the total registration activity for the final registration weekend saw females account for 1 million registrations, representing 56% of the total.

While males accounted for 788 261, representing 44%. “This is consistent with the well-established trend of more females than men on the voters roll.”

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The CEO noted that the combined impact of the two registration weekends held in June and August resulted in close to 4.7 million interactions with voters, compared to 1.7 million transactions recorded during a comparable election in 2021.

“However, it is important to note that there was only one registration weekend in 2021. The two registrations contributed 754 332 new voters, adding to the continued growth of the voters roll ahead of the 2026 local government elections.”

The commission advises eligible voters who were unable to visit a registration location during this weekend, to make use of the online voter’s registration portal before August 7.

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