Highest number of eligible voters registered since the dawn of democracy in South Africa

Over 27.79 million voters are eligible to cast their votes in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections. This is the highest number of eligible voters since the dawn of democracy in South Africa.

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The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), headed by Sy Mamabolo briefed the media on Monday, regarding the latest developments pertaining the upcoming elections.

‘’The voters’ roll will be certified by the Chief Electoral Officer on 12 March 2024. It will be published by making it available at the Commission’s head office, each of the nine provincial offices of the Commission and at each municipal office of the Commission. The certification follows the finalisation of objections by the Commission on the provisional voters’ roll that was published for inspection on 26 February 2024. Certification signals confirmation of those citizens who are eligible to vote in the elections.’’

‘’Electronic copies of the voters’ roll which contain the redacted identity numbers of voters in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act will be provided to all political parties and independent candidates who have qualified to contest the elections,’’ he added.

Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo, says it has seen an increase of 9.6 million voters registered since the voters’ roll was compiled for the first time ahead of the 1999 general elections

National and Provincial Elections Registered voters

1999 18.17 million

2004 20.67 million

2009 23.18  million

2014 25.39 million

2019 26.74 million

2024 27.79 million

 

Mambolo says Gauteng remains the province with the most registered voters, followed by tKwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape respectively. He added that there has been an increase in the rate of representation by persons in the age cohort 18–39 years. Mamabolo attributed the increase in voter registration by younger votes to its online self-service voter registration

‘’This age band accounts for 42% or 11. 7 million voters on the voters’ roll. In fact, the increase in this age category from the 2021 Local Government Elections (LGE 2021) is over 200%, which vindicates the continued focus by the Electoral Commission and other stakeholders to invert the under-representation of this category of voters.’’

The IEC head says of the 27. 79 million voters in South Africa, 15 million are females. This represents over 55%. In terms of those voting abroad, and Mamabolo says there are more voting stations in London.

The table below illustrates the top 10 missions designated as international voting stations with most registrations outside of the Republic:

 

Diplomatic Mission       Registered Population

London      19 525

The Hague 5 574

Canberra   2 609

Dubai         2 574

Dublin        2 342

Wellington 1 668

Abu Dhabi 1 416

New York CG      1 379

Washington        1 228

Berlin 1 188

  

When it comes to Candidate Nomination Progress, and IEC Electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo says, compliance verification of the candidate nomination submissions is under way.

‘’In terms of the law, a party submission must contain a list of candidates accompanied by payment of the applicable deposit for it to be compliant. In respect of unrepresented parties, the submission must in addition, be accompanied by proof that the requisite number of signatures have been uploaded on the nomination portal.’’

‘’The requirements for independent candidates are that a prescribed nomination form must be submitted by the cut-off time accompanied by the prescribed form confirming that the candidate has submitted the requisite number of signatures and payment of the relevant deposit. Failure by a party or independent candidate to comply with any of these foundation nomination requirements cannot be remedied and will result in the disqualification of the party or independent candidate,’’ he added.

Responding to the lists of candidates from the African National Congress (ANC) and uMkonto we Sizwe (MK) party, that were leaked, Mamabolo says the culprit was someone working for the the organisation.

''For that reason, an enquiry was instituted to establish the circumstances of the unauthorised circulation and the person or persons responsible. Following investigations over the weekend and early hours of today, the Electoral Commission is able to give a preliminary report as follows:

''The investigation has narrowed the source of the disclosure to a workstation that had been used to generate and store the reports. Later, the said reports were deleted from the workstation. Earlier today the workstation was secured and imaged in the presence of the staff member whose credentials were used to generate the reports. A forensic analysis of the computer is currently under way.''

''The Electoral Commission reiterates its regret for the unauthorised disclosure of the lists and the disclosure of personal information of candidates on those lists. The Electoral Commission continues to cooperate with the Information Regulator in this regard.''

The IEC Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo on Tuesday, confirmed that the organisation has fired a now former employee who the commission says leaked the candidate lists of the ANC and MK Party. He says the former employee's contract has now been terminated after the IEC concluded internal investigations.

South Africans head to the polls on 29 May

 

Done by: Mitchum George