South Africans Get Ready for Voter Registration

It’s voter registration next weekend, Saturday and Sunday 5-6 March 2016, for South Africans – and a good time to make sure you are still registered in the ward that you live in – for the 2016 local government elections.

On Thursday, Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba urged all eligible South Africans to register during the dates designated by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). The date of the election has not yet been announced, but it could be anytime between May and August.

South Africans who do not have IDs must apply now at their nearest Home Affairs office and those who have already applied must fetch their documents prior to registration time, he said. Both the green bar-coded IDs and Smart ID Cards will be accepted as legal forms of identity for the purposes of voter registration and voting.

Gigaba also said his department is holding more than 200 000 uncollected IDs.

He said all Home Affairs offices will be open from 8am to 5pm on 5 and 6 March – the first voter registration weekend – to accommodate those who need IDs to register to vote.

This will be South Africa’s fourth democratic local government elections in which the electorate will choose their local leaders.

“Unlike national elections, the local government elections require that you register in the ward in which you reside,” Gigaba said. “We also urge all young and first-time voters to register to vote.

“It is by voting that citizens select the public representatives that best serve their interests,” he said. “These elections are important as local government is a critical sphere of government responsible for delivering services which are basic human rights and are essential components of the right to dignity enshrined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.”

Source: SAnews.gov.za