Over 300 000 voters have registered - IEC

JOHANNESBURG - The Deputy Chief Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission of South Africa IEC , Masego Sheburi, believes they are on course to register thousands of voters after recording more than 300 000 people who registered in the first few hours since they opened their voting stations.

The IEC yesterday conducted another registration weekend for voters to register to vote ahead of the elections.

Sheburi, who was briefing the media yesterday, said they have not experienced any problems at the voting stations with 99 per cent of their stations fully operational.

He said within the first few hours of opening their doors for voters to register, more than 300 000 people registered.

“In the initial hours of this two-day registration weekend an impressive 304 221 voters have visited voting stations, Of that figure 55 019 were persons who were registering for the first time. In other words, the persons who enter the voters roll for the very first time. This early turnout not only sets a positive tone for the registration period, but also serves as a testament that citizens remain engaged with affairs of their country,” said Sheburi.

REGISTERED

He also said they have done well on the online platform, where thousands of voters have registered.

“Today alone the online registration portal recorded over 20 525 transactions. Of those 7 234 were new registrations.”

He said the online platform will be available for people to register until President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the date of the elections.

Political parties have also been busy campaigning during the voter registration weekend. .

Ramaphosa was also on a campaign train in Soweto yesterday. The African National Congress has also deployed its senior leaders across the country.