IEC concerned over Gauteng voter registration
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says this past weekend’s registration weekend was one of the busiest in recent times.
The IEC briefed the media at the headquarters in Centurion on Tuesday.
It says while Gauteng saw the most new registrations, it still has the lowest overall registration rate (67.3%).
IEC chair Sy Mamobolo says this is mainly due to migration patterns.
"Gauteng is recipient of net migration so the number of people coming into Gauteng, as opposed to those moving out of Gauteng, is huge. So it may be that those people are still registered in the provinces from whence they come."
Mamabolo says the IEC will be watching Gauteng more closely.
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"We will give Gauteng special attention because it is a special province and we hope to reverse that trend."
The IEC says registration at some 100 voting stations were disrupted due to various issues, including community protests.
Limpopo, the Free State, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape recorded service delivery protests over the weekend.
Mamobolo says, if needed, the IEC could hold more registration weekends ahead of the 2019 elections.
"I think that despite the disruptions, which were minimal, we have done pretty well overall. We'll look at these results and see if there is a necessity of another registration weekend throughout the country."