The number of South Africans who will be able to cast their votes in the local government elections has topped the 23,1-million mark, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced on Wednesday.
IEC chairperson Brigalia Bam said that prior to the voter registration weekend there were 22 691 676 people on the Voters’ Roll.
Following the voter registration weekend, this figure had increased to 23 161 975 voters.
Bam said she was satisfied with the turnout, but hoped that a further 966 000 people would register during a second voter registration weekend on March 5 and March 6.
She said 1,406-million voters registered over the weekend.
They included 729 732 people who re-registered because they had moved house and 142 954 people who re-registered because of a change in voting district boundaries and new wards.
She said that 52% of those who registered were women.
The majority of the 534 016 new registrations took place in KwaZulu-Natal, with 134 807, followed by Gauteng with 91 708 and the Eastern Cape with 90 933.
The date of the election is yet to be announced. — Sapa