Pretoria: Over 1 million South African citizens engaged with the Electoral Commission during the final voter registration weekend on August 1 and 2, resulting in a total of 1.7 million interactions. These interactions were facilitated through visits to 23,699 registration stations and the use of the online voter registration portal.

According to South African Government News Agency, Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo disclosed on Monday that 291,806 people, accounting for 16% of the total interactions, registered as first-time voters. In addition, 1,502,245 individuals, or 84%, who were already registered, took the opportunity to inspect and update their registration details. Mamabolo emphasized the importance of voters registering and voting within their residing wards.

KwaZulu-Natal led the registration efforts with 427,592 transactions, followed by Gauteng with 314,856 and Eastern Cape with 313,797. Mamabolo highlighted that the majority of registrations, totaling 1,555,318, were completed at registration stations. KwaZulu-Natal again topped the list with 386,258 station-based activities. The online registration portal accounted for 238,733 transactions, with Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and Western Cape showing the highest use of the platform.

Mamabolo noted that young people aged 16 to 29 represented a significant portion of registrations, with 485,757 transactions, or 26% of the total. Notably, 46% of new registrations came from voters under 29, with KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and Gauteng leading in youth engagements. Female voters were prominent in the registration activity, comprising 56% of the total, while males accounted for 44%.

The two voter registration weekends collectively resulted in close to 4.7 million voter interactions, a significant increase compared to the comparable 2021 Local Government Elections. The efforts contributed to 754,332 new voters, strengthening the voters' roll ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections.