IEC to hold another registration weekend

The IEC said over 600 000 new voters registered this past weekend. The IEC was pleased with the amount of young people who registered. 

A second registration weekend will be held on 9 and 10 April. 

"The Electoral Commission urges all eligible voters who have still not registered to ensure they do not miss the final registration weekend which will take place on 9 and 10 April 2016 when all voting stations will again be open from 8am to 5pm."

IEC chairperson Vuma Mashinini said over three million South African voters visited voter registration stations over the past weekend. 

Of the 3 097 194 voters who visited voting stations this weekend:

- 692 730 were new registrations

- 1 086 958 were re-registrations in different voting districts; and

- 1 317 506 visited to confirm and update their registration in the same voting district

Mashinini said KwaZulu-Natal had the most people visiting polling stations, with over 800 000 would-be voters, followed by Gauteng with just over 500 000.

Vice Chairperson Terry Tselane said 40 registration centres, however, didn't open.

"In all the areas where there are protests, the first prize for us is a negotiated settlement with the communities. As a result of that all our officials who are on the ground are using all the mechanisms that we got as an electoral commission to engage with those communities in order to try and find an amicable solution," Tselane said.

Tselane added that they would have to work closely with law enforcement agencies to make sure South Africans could participate in the process.

Edited by Suné du Toit