Pretoria - The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) will wrap up its efforts to register 1.5 million new voters during its final voter registration drive this weekend ahead of the 18 May municipal elections.
This weekend, 5 and 6 March, is the final opportunity for eligible South African voters to register for the upcoming local government elections.
The second registration weekend will also help those who were unable to visit their voting stations as a result of heavy rains and flooding in their areas.
Before the first voter registration weekend in February, there were 22 691 676 eligible voters on the IEC's voters' roll and now the figure stands at 23 161 975.
Acting President Kgalema Motlanthe on Thursday announced that the Local Government Elections will be held on 18 May.
As a result, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka will soon formally proclaim the election date by publishing a notice in the Government Gazette, a process which will also see the closure of the voters' roll.
IEC chief electoral officer, Pansy Tlakula, on Thursday told BuaNews at the commission's national summit aimed at promoting political tolerance that there would be no other voter registration.
"This is our last voter registration weekend drive and as such, we are calling all eligible South African voters who have not yet registered or who want to change their details on our voters' roll to do so this weekend," she said.
Tlakula said they had already completed the delimitation of voting districts, which included the process of consulting all political parties that will be contesting the local government elections.
To register as a new voter, or to change one's personal details, potential voters should visit their nearest voting stations and bring along their bar-coded identity document.
The entire registration process should only take about 10 minutes. However, those who need to check personal details on the voters' roll can SMS their ID number to 32810 or visit http://www.buanews.gov.za/elections_index.html.
All voting stations countrywide will be opened from 8am to 5pm on both Saturday and Sunday. - BuaNews
