The voter registration weekend, which was scheduled to take place from July 17 to 18, has been postponed to the weekend of July 31 to August 1.
The IEC made the decision following a review of the current conditions including the rate of infections and hospitalisations over the past seven days and its impact on preparations for the registration weekend.
According to the IEC spokesperson, Kate Bapela, the Commission also considered concerns raised by political parties through the National Party Liaison Committee of proceeding with voter registration.
There were also warnings from health officials and other experts during last week’s oral submissions before the Moseneke Inquiry regarding the risks of proceeding with a voter registration weekend under the current conditions.
“Health experts told the Inquiry last week that the current third wave of infections was likely to persist until at least the end of the month. Taking into consideration the various factors including the constitutional timeframe which requires the elections to be held before November 1 and the minimum period required for the election timetable, the Commission resolved to postpone the voter registration weekend,” said Bapela.
Bapela said the two-week postponement will have a knock-on effect on certain dates and activities associated with the proclamation and election including delaying the proclamation by four days until August 6.
However, the Commission remains confident that successful elections can be held within a reduced election timetable of 82 days rather than the original 86 days.
“The Commission has taken this very difficult decision in the interests of saving lives of voters, election staff, party representatives and all citizens while still preserving the Constitutional requirement to hold elections.
“While the Commission accepts that the two weeks’ delay may not be ideal to allow the third wave to begin to decline in all provinces, the Commission has very limited scope to move the registration weekend without postponing the elections themselves,” said Bapela.
The Commission is awaiting the final report of the Moseneke Inquiry into whether the elections can be free and fair if they proceed as scheduled on October 27.
The Inquiry is being led by former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke who is scheduled to present his report and its recommendations to the Commission by July 21.
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