South Africa national elections 2024: Expat FAQs answered – Do I need my SA ID and passport to vote?

The deadline for registering to vote in the 2024 South Africa national elections – if you are based outside of Mzansi – is fast approaching.

With hours rather days remaining to sign up, there is still uncertainty as to how the process works.

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In an effort to make the exercise as simple as possible, the SAPeople website has exclusively engaged the help and expert assistance of Hayley Reichert to answer some of the more frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Reichert, who left Durban in 2008, now resides in London.

PART 1 | South Africa national elections 2024: Expat FAQs answered – How do I register?

In the second of a series of articles, the SAPeople website asked Reichert: “Is it true I only need my SA ID and not my SA passport to register and vote?“

Reichert responded: Although the overseas online registration portal asks for you to upload an image of both your SA ID book or smartcard AND your valid SA passport, you must have an ID to register, but you can bypass uploading the passport by ticking the box to say you ‘do not have your passport with you’.

The registration portal still reflects a message stating that you need your passport with you.

However, the IEC did inform an overseas voter by email – and have confirmed to me verbally – that they will not be asking for passports on voting day.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has requested clarification from the IEC on this matter (as reported by the SAPeople website HERE)

Please check the user guide in the help section for information on uploading your ID document and check out these troubleshooting tips in the video below:

Hayley Reichert is a passionate South African, based in London. She has held roles with the SA Chamber of Commerce (UK), Nedbank SA Charity Golf Day, Democratic Alliance Abroad – where she initiated the loss of citizenship campaign – Home Away From Home repatriation & Project LISA (Locked in SA) expatriation projects during SA airspace closure in 2020 and Move One Million. Hayley also assisted South Africans who fled Ukraine at the start of the Russian invasion and is currently working on a project to support a change in the political trajectory of South Africa in the 2024 General Elections.