Pretoria - Despite a relatively slow first voter registration weekend, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is confident it will achieve its target of registering 1.5 million new voters ahead of the municipal elections.
The IEC's voter registration drive will close once Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka announces the elections date.
A total of 1 406 702 South Africans re-registered for the first time, re-registered within the same voting district or re-registered in different voting stations during the first voter registration weekend on 5 and 6 February. A total of 534 016 were new registrations.
IEC chairperson Dr Brigalia Bam said of the 534 016 new registrations, 57 569 were from young people aged between 16 and 17, 142 954 were those who were affected by the demarcation of the wards, while 729 732 re-registered because they had moved house.
"By all standards, we are pleased with the new figures of the registration drive. The net effect is that 1 205 520 voters have over the past weekend empowered themselves to cast their votes in the forthcoming municipal elections," Bam said.
She said the success of the weekend's registration drive is clear when the results are compared to the outcome of the first registration weekend of the 2006 municipal elections. In 2006, there were 291 479 new registrations and currently there are 534 016 - an increase of 242 537 or 83 percent in the number of new registrations.
The IEC chairperson said young people under the age of 30 responded in force to last weekend's voter registration. A total of 435 738 (81 percent) from this age group were registering for the first time, 36 665 re-registered with the same voting district, while 181 095 who moved house re-registered in their new voting districts.
Just like in the previous voter registration drives, 52.4 percent women participated, compared to the 47.6 percent of men.
KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of new registrations with 134 864, followed by Gauteng with 91 708 and Eastern Cape with 90 933.
Before the first voter registration weekend, there were 22 691 676 eligible voters on the IEC's voters' roll and now the figure stands at 23 161 975.
The IEC will open its voting stations for the final voter registration weekend on 5 and 6 March. Bam emphasised that this would be the final registration weekend.
Eligible voters who missed the opportunity to register or re-register during the last week's voter registration can still visit municipal electoral offices in their respective municipalities.
This would also cover those who could not visit their voting stations as a result of heavy rains and flooding in their areas.
