Lebone Rodah Mosima
South Africans should check and update their voter registration details this weekend, with the Electoral Commission (IEC) reminding citizens that voters in the local government elections may only vote in the voting district where they are registered.
The IEC said all 23 706 voting stations, including 22 718 permanent stations, 960 temporary stations and 28 mobile stations for remote communities, will be open from 08h00 to 17h00 on Saturday and Sunday for the voter registration weekend.
Addressing the media on Thursday, IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the commission was ready for the 4 November elections.
“The voters’ roll currently stands at 28 million registered voters, despite ongoing monthly reductions of approximately 34 000 due to mortality,” Mamabolo said.
He said the voters’ roll stood at 27.7 million during the 2024 general elections, with online registration helping to grow it.
“The online registration platform is proving to be a crucial element in the growth of the voters’ roll. In the context of a local government election, correct placement of voters in wards is a crucial element for the delivery of free and fair elections.”
The commission said there is no statutory mechanism for voters to vote outside the voting district in which they are registered during local government elections, making it critical for voters to verify or update their address and ward details.
It said a targeted communication and registration campaign had been conducted after the municipal boundary re-determination process, during which a number of voters were reassigned to different wards and voting districts.
The IEC said it visited 303 953 affected voters across the country, added 51 475 new voters and updated the registration details of 252 478 voters, representing 83% of the total records processed.
Mamabolo also said the IEC had successfully delivered all necessary voter registration materials across all provinces, including Voter Management Devices, stationery packs, directional signage and document storage boxes.
Mamabolo said 39 641 Voter Management Devices were available to service registration stations across the country.
“These devices have undergone necessary maintenance to ensure that they
are fit-for-purpose,” he said.
“These devices are central to modern voter registration operations, enabling real-time citizenship verification, accurate capture of voter details, and seamless integration with the voters’ roll.”
He said that if there is no bandwidth connectivity, the devices will operate by storing registration data locally, which will later be uploaded once they are connected to the network.
The commission said external reviews had also been conducted on the registration app used on the Voter Management Devices and on the registration portal, including code assessment, functional testing and load testing.
It said both the registration portal and the registration app had been found to be ready for the weekend under normal load volumes.
Mamabolo said the commission had appointed and trained 48 212 registration staff to ensure a smooth and efficient voter registration process across all registration stations.
“Significantly, 34 404 of the appointed staff members are unemployed, qualified persons,” he said.
“This highlights the important contribution electoral events make towards temporary employment opportunities and skills development.”
The IEC said 37 994 of the appointed staff members were women and 10 218 were men, while 22 599 were under the age of 35.
The registration weekend takes place during Youth Month, with the commission urging first-time voters to register.
While the commission said 18- and 19-year-olds have not had multiple opportunities to enlist on the voters’ roll because they have only recently become eligible, it said more than 70% of this age group were still to register.
It also said the commission’s Tertiary Institutions Campaign (TIC) continues to boost youth participation. By 31 March 2026, the campaign had reached 269 552 students nationwide, of whom 158 446, or 59%, were newly registered voters.
“Building on these positive results, the commission will soon roll out another TIC campaign to encourage eligible students to register to vote, verify their registration
details, and participate actively in the democratic process at all tertiary institutions
across the country.”
Mamabolo said the commission had significantly expanded its voter education and outreach programme, conducting 34 356 Civic and Democracy Education events that have reached more than 6.6 million people nationwide.
He added that to further strengthen community engagement ahead of the elections, the commission had recruited 834 Municipal Outreach Officers, including 52 from the disability sector, to reinforce the commitment to inclusive electoral participation.
“On 11 and 12 June 2026, the commission trained over 70 members of Blind SA on
the use of the Universal Ballot Template (UBT) as part of its efforts to promote inclusive electoral participation,” he said.
“The initiative aims to empower blind and visually impaired voters to confidently cast their ballots independently, and with dignity during the forthcoming elections.”
Following a “thorough” public consultation process, Mamabolo said the commission had determined and published the election deposits needed for the upcoming elections.
He stressed that these deposits must be paid by those intending to participate in the election.
“Those participants who secures at least one seat in the election have their deposits returned to them,” he said.
“Those who fail in this regard, their deposits are forfeited to the National Revenue Fund.”
He also said that with these deposits now set, the commission is ready to make the Online Candidate Nomination System available to registered political parties and prospective independent candidates to input candidate and supporter information.
He urged political parties and independent candidates to ensure their contact details are current and accurate to facilitate effective communication.
Mamabolo further encouraged all eligible South Africans to take full advantage of the voter registration weekend to register, verify, or update their details on the voters’ roll.
“Citizens must ensure they present a South African identity document, Smart ID card, green barcoded ID book, or valid Temporary Identity Certificate when registering or updating their details,” he said.
“Proof of address is not requirement for registration, but the provision of a place of ordinary residence is required.”
IEC Deputy CEO Masego Sheburi said possible disputes within voting stations can be reported through the administrative chain of command.
“Our staff at the voting stations – the second layer, is what we call an area manager, responsible for a cluster of municipalities. If they can resolve the issue, they will report to a local municipal office. The local municipal office can escalate to a provincial,” Sheburi said.
He said the commission has operational centres in all provinces and hopes all issues will be resolved efficiently.
Regarding proactive digital monitoring tools to combat fake news or voter intimidation tactics, Sheburi said the commission had increased its capacity on social media and through facility equipment to counter misinformation.
“I think the priority is to provide productivity, correct information, as we’ve done this morning, so that people have information from the IEC,” he said.
“We have a contact centre and that should be the source of information for people if they are confronted with information they need to identify as well as our website, which is available.”
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