Voter registration gets under way

The first voter registration weekend kicked off on Saturday ahead of the 2011 local government elections.

The Independent Electoral Commission was set to brief the media on the voter registration drive at Election House in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation on Saturday reported that President Jacob Zuma was visiting East London to encourage citizens to register to vote.

Zuma was set to visit the Manyano Informal Settlement in Mdantsane to conduct a door-to-door campaign and later a mini rally.

Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane would visit polling stations in Randburg and Diepsloot on Saturday. African National Congress Gauteng chairperson Paul Mashatile was conducting a door-to-door campaign in Ekurhuleni and ANC national executive committee member Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was on the West Rand to encourage potential voters to register.

Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille is visiting Atlantis in a voter registration drive and Inkatha Freedom Party president Mangosuthu Buthelezi is leading a voter registration drive in Durban.

Meanwhile, the department of home affairs on Saturday reminded those needing identity documents that their offices would be open on February 5 and 6, from 8am to 5pm.

“This forms part of our commitment to ensure all South Africans have an opportunity to exercise their democratic right to vote on the date still to be determined by the IEC to elect local government representatives,” the department said in a statement.