www.thesouthafrican.com
18 - 24 February 2014
Issue 553
VOTER TURN-OUT FOR MAY ELECTIONS SET TO BREAK RECORDS
| A record 25.3-million South Africans are now on the voters’ roll – 80.5 percent of eligible voters. Just over 4,000 first-time voters have registered at South Africa’s foreign missions over the last month, with an estimated 3,000 having registered in London.
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INCREDIBLE PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: a British Airways Airbus A380 circles Table Mountain in Cape Town as part of a new marketing campaign for increased flight volumes to South Africa.
(who are merely registering for the next elections.) A further 1.48-million registered voters also used the opportunity to
change their voting station, according to Tlakula, while 183 377 people re-registered at the same voting station.
Women comprised 51.50 percent of new registrations, while men comprised 48.50 percent, according to the IEC.
p2 | Special pre-election coverage starts weekly in The South African p5 | Commuting from Barcelona far cheaper than renting in London p12 | Arriving and ‘Dériving’ in Paris: a whirlwind romance Overall registration levels for estimated eligible voters: The overall registration level against estimated eligible population for the provinces are as follows: Eastern Cape – 85.3 percent Free State – 85.8 percent Gauteng – 77 percent KwaZulu-Natal – 83.6 percent Limpopo – 81 percent Mpumalanga – 77.3 percent North West – 78.5 percent Northern Cape – 84.3 percent Western Cape – 77.8 percent
BY STAFF REPORTER SOUTH Africa registered another 1.2 million voters on the final voter registration weekend ahead of the country’s general elections on 7 May, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chairperson Pansy Tlakula said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria, Tlakula said new registrations over the past weekend – 1 259 560 in total – had increased the overall registration level to 80.5 percent of eligible voters, with a record 25.3-million South Africans now on the voters’ roll. Taking into account the 1.1-million first-time voters who registered in November, some 2.3 million new voters are to be added onto the voters’ roll – about 17% higher than the 2 million target expected by the IEC, she said. “In total, just short of 3 million people visited our 22 263 voting stations this weekend. That is 16 percent higher than the 2.5-million who visited voting stations in November.” She said it was “encouraging” to see that 79.89 percent (or 1 006 260 people) of all new registrations were under the age of 30. This included: 691 002 voters aged 20-29; 255 398 voters aged 18 and 19; and 59 860 voters aged 16 and 17.
INSIDE:
Overseas voters Just over 4,000 first-time voters have registered at South Africa’s foreign missions over the last month. The highest number of applications came from London, Dubai, and Cuba. “As of yesterday we had received 3,521 applications for registration. According to figures provided by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, we anticipate approximately 700 more applications being couriered to us for capturing,” Tlakula said. Registration conducted at correctional facilities resulted in 9 949 registration applications by inmates. Overseas registration has now closed but eligible voters in South Africa can still register at their local IEC office until 5pm on the day of the official proclamation of the election date, which is expected to be later this month, after which the voters’ roll closes.
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