Cape Town - Briefing the Parliament Portfolio on Home Affairs, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said it is ready for the Voter Registration Weekend, which will commence on November 18 and 19, and that those who are living abroad will be able to register online in January.
IEC said it has conducted a dry run to test its systems on voting stations and that voting district boundaries, a process known as re-delimitation, have given rise to 23 296 voting districts, compared to 23 148 for the 2021 Municipal Elections – an increase of 148 voting districts.
It said that by November 2, 72 560 people had been trained to assist voters, and a further 1 960 personnel were yet to be trained.
“The names of the registration officers have been provided to parties in the political liaison committee to facilitate objections in terms of the recruitment criteria if officers are deemed unsuitable to perform the role,” said Masego Sheburi, IEC deputy CEO electoral operations.
He said for those who will be registering abroad, enhancements will be progressively introduced to the image recognition element to increase the success rate of the image. Voters must have their passports and ID documents when registering.
The Department of Home Affairs said ID documents will be available at all Home Affairs offices during the voter registration weekend.
“In this regard, operating hours at Home Affairs offices will be aligned with those of the IEC in order to assist voters who need to collect IDs they have applied for or to apply for Temporary Identification Certificates. With these documents, eligible voters will be able to register for the 2024 national and provincial elections. Temporary identification certificates are issued on the spot.”
The department has urged all of its clients who have applied for their ID documents and have been waiting for three weeks or more to seize this opportunity by visiting their Home Affairs office to collect their documents.
Various political parties have also called on citizens to register. Christopher Fry, DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Premier and Constitutional Matters, said 3.1 million Western Cape residents have already registered for the 2024 elections.
“Ongoing efforts to ensure that the Western Cape sees a strong turnout have been fruitful, with 3 122 745 Western Cape residents registered to vote thus far. However, there is still a long way to go, and the DA joins the IEC in calling on every eligible resident to register to vote in what will be the most important election in a generation,” said Fry.