Record turnout: 2.9 million South Africans interact with Electoral Commission

While the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) was yesterday buoyed by the whopping 2.9-million voters who turned up to register during its voter registration drive at the weekend, a political analyst cautioned that the number of people registered may not translate into voters.

Isolated protests and violence marred the registration process in some parts of the country, but the IEC expressed appreciation at the record number of people who turned out at registration stations.

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IEC chief election officer Sy Mamabolo told the press at the commission’s Centurion headquarters that more than 2.9 million interacted with the organisation at the weekend.

“The majority of voters – 2.7 million – visited voting stations to register, as well as update their details,” he said. “A total of 196 511 voters used the online portal.

“Innovations and efficiencies introduced by the voter management device [VMD] have increased the speed at which registration applications are processed.

“With the VMD, particulars of voters who attended to voting stations over the weekend have now been processed and address details captured onto the voter’s roll,” said Mamabolo.

The figures

In giving a breakdown of numbers, Mamabolo said:

• Eligible citizens registering for the first time numbered 568 374, accounting for 19.57% of total registration activity.

• Those who reregistered in the same voting district numbered 1.4 million, while 929 564 reregistered in different voting districts.

• Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape recorded the most registration transactions.

• The voters’ roll now has 26.8-million voters, an increase on the 26.3 million before the registration weekend.

• People aged 16 to 29 numbered 445 089 or 78.31% of the 568 374 new voters.

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Mamabolo said: “The commission’s continued focus on young persons is producing a good yield. We will persist with efforts to improve the registration levels of the youth.

“The well-entrenched trend of there being more females on the voters’ roll continues.

“The Electoral Commission appreciates and thanks all South Africans who heeded the call.

“Many also took to our SMS line 32810 to check their registration status.

“We further appreciate many citizens who approached our contact centre on 0800-11-8000 to receive assistance to register from our officials. Many continue to receive valuable information from our WhatsApp business account at 0600-88-000.

Visits by the IEC

“We further urge and invite persons who manage frail-care facilities and other such institutions to contact the Electoral Commission to arrange visits for purposes of registering voters in those institutions. Similarly, persons who are confined at home may also [apply] to be visited and registered.”

He condemned the acts of violence intended to dissuade people from registering, saying some community leaders “appropriated themselves the right to decide who participates in the democratic process”.

University of South Africa political science professor Dirk Kotze said registration figures did not always translate into votes.

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“The voter turnout during the polls, is not the same is the number registered – with no guarantee they will turn up,” he said.

“The test is going to be in next year’s elections. This time, political parties made a special effort in calling and rallying people to go to registration stations.”

Independent political analyst Sandile Swana described the 2.9 million as “a positive and impressive figure and a good turnout, compared to the IEC target of one million”.

“The figure underscores the fact that people now believe in younger and newer political parties,” said Swana.

“But I am concerned about 14 million unregistered youth who are supposed to be voting,” he added.