Thousands registered to vote

Thousands of South Africans visited voting stations across the country on Saturday - the first day of the final voter registration weekend.

According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), more than 600 000 people visited to either register as new voters, re-register if they had changed address or to inspect their details on the voters roll.

However, in Pretoria, there was little activity at most of the voting stations in Sunnyside, Salvokop, Atteridgeville and in Pretoria West.

The final figures for the weekend and for the previous registration weekend are expected to be released on Wednesday.

The IEC is confident that it will reach its target of 1.5 million new registered voters from this year’s registration drive.

IEC deputy chief electoral officer Mosotho Moepya said at a media briefing in Pretoria on Sunday that the number of people who visited the voting stations on Saturday represented a 50 percent improvement on the registration weekend last month.

They were excited that about 40 percent of them were people who registered for the first time and 80 percent of them were young people under the age of 30.

Out of the 20 864 voting stations countrywide, only 12 could not open, mainly because of flooding, Moepya said.

The stations are in Limpopo, Free State and the Northern Cape.

Moepya said plans would be made to ensure that voters in the affected areas were given a chance to register or update their details before Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka proclaimed the date for the local government elections (May 18) in the Government Gazette.

The date was announced last week by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.

Moepya said the IEC website recorded a total of 39 117 hits while the SMS facility received 58 983 messages and the call centre more than 12 800 calls from the public inquiring about their registration status or at which station they should register.

“Our young voters are encouraged to follow registration and election developments on our newly created site on mobi.elections.org.za or on twitter on www.twitter/iecloveyoursa. The IEC is grateful to all its stakeholders for their love of this country and their participation in this young democracy,” he said.

The commission called on all political parties to ensure that voting would indeed take place in a climate that was conducive to free and fair elections.

“Until the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs has proclaimed a date for the election, eligible voters are advised to continue registering.

They should also check their registration details at municipal electoral offices during office hours,” said Moepya.

They could also SMS their ID number to 32810, contact the call centre toll free on 0800 11 8000 or visit the IEC website, www.elections.org.za, to check their registration details. - Pretoria News