Pretoria: The Electoral Commission (IEC) has welcomed the positive response from South Africans who used the final voter registration weekend to register to vote or update their details ahead of the Local Government Elections. With only a few hours remaining until 5pm, IEC Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo urged those who have not yet visited voting stations to do so urgently, as all 23,699 voting stations across the country remain open.
According to South African Government News Agency, Sy Mamabolo expressed delight at the citizens' participation but emphasized the critical need for unregistered or incorrectly registered voters to seize this opportunity. "We urge every eligible citizen to ensure that they are correctly registered and assigned to the right voting district," Mamabolo said on Sunday.
The Electoral Commission acknowledged some challenges with its online data-free voter registration service. The Commission's technical team is collaborating with partners to resolve the issue urgently. The IEC will announce the outcome of the voter registration drive at a media briefing on Monday at 1pm at the Election House in Centurion.
The Department of Home Affairs has extended operating hours at all offices for the final Voter Registration Weekend on 1 and 2 August 2026. Mamabolo noted that the weekend commenced strongly, with over 99% of the voting stations opening promptly at 8am.
The Commission reported interactions with more than 238,000 citizens at voting stations and online by Saturday noon. Most transactions, 198,232, occurred at voting stations, while the online portal recorded 20,078 transactions, offering an additional convenient channel for voters.
Preliminary figures show that the highest voter transaction volumes are in KwaZulu-Natal (55,759), Eastern Cape (46,889), and Gauteng (41,774), consistent with historical patterns and population densities. Other provinces, including Limpopo (29,680), Western Cape (19,693), Mpumalanga (17,218), North West (15,610), Free State (13,110), and Northern Cape (6,213), are also seeing voter activity as citizens respond positively to the IEC's call to register or update their details.
