Deputy chief electoral officer Mawethu Mosery. Picture: File
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says it’s all systems go for the 2024 general elections.
This is despite the election date not yet having been declared by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Deputy chief electoral officer Mawethu Mosery said that in terms of logistics, the IEC were ready for the national voter registration this coming weekend (November 18 and 19).
Mosery said their focus was on rallying and encouraging South Africans to get registered.
The IEC will host a media briefing on Wednesday to provide details of its readiness for the national voter registration weekend.
Leading up to it, the commission has embarked on a nationwide awareness drive to encourage first-time voters to register, and for existing voters to change or update their details.
Mosery said they were working against the backdrop of the Census 2022 figures, released recently, which showed that the number of eligible voters has increased. In this regard, the commission is targeting young people to register.
So far, about 100 000 youths have registered to vote.
He called on all those who were registered to check whether their particulars and details, including addresses on the voters’ roll, were correct in terms of the voting station at which they planned to cast their votes.
“For this provincial and national election, the provision we had previously is no longer there. So people have to definitely go where they are registered. If they intend to vote elsewhere, they would need to do an application beforehand and be approved.”
Mosery said the commission has put in place 23 296 venues around the country.
IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said last month that the commission had been speaking to Ramaphosa.
Home Affairs opened its offices around the country this weekend to make it possible for people to collect their identity documents ahead of the IEC’s voter registration drive.
The Star
ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za
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