Voters throughout South Africa go to the polls next week to elect their new members of parliament and members of the provincial legislature in each province.
Election Day is Wednesday 8 May, but special voting will take place on Monday (6 May) and Tuesday (7 May) for people who have successfully applied for a special vote. Voting hours on these days will be from 08:00 to 17:00.
There are 72 voting stations in the five towns in Ngwathe. However, several of these, which have large numbers of registered voters, are called voting centres with sub-stations.
Voting stations will open at 07:00 and close at 21:00 on Wednesday 8 May.
The Independent Electoral Commission has granted about 2 400 people in Ngwathe special votes. Of these, just over half were for home visits – either at their private homes or retirement centres. The rest were for station visits for voters who will be out of town or working on Wednesday, or older adults unable to stand for long. If there are queues on election day, elderly voters will get priority.
DA councillor, Shirley Vermaak, who serves on an IEC liaison committee, says voters are encouraged to vote at the station where they are registered.
If they are outside the province where they are registered, they will only be able to vote on the national ballot and not the provincial one.
To vote, you must be a South African citizen older than 18 on election day and have registered to vote by 26 February this year, when registrations closed. Don’t forget to take your valid green bar-coded ID book or smart ID card or temporary ID along. Driver’s licences and passports will not be accepted.
