eligible voters by Election Day
7 February 2009
Despite few protests against service delivery, hundreds of South Africans
are visiting the more than 19 000 voter registration stations across the
country to register for this yearâs general elections.
Electoral Commission (IEC) Chief Electoral Officer, Advocate Pansy Tlakula,
said the commission was satisfied with the turnout.
"We have just over 21 million registered voters. Our target is a cool 22
million voters by the time the voters roll closes. So far we are on target,â
Tlakula said.
âJust like last November, we are promoting this national effort with the
hope that it will help answer votersâ questions, register new ones and make
participation as simple as possible,â she added.
Registration began as planned in all nine provinces. All voting stations
have police officers securing them to ensure the safety of voters.
The weekendâs voter registration drive is intended to provide eligible
voters with all of the information they need to vote in the upcoming general
election. New voters were being registered. Eligible ones were being given the
opportunity to find out if they were registered, allowing them to check their
voter registration status, including confirming their voting locations for the
2009 polls.
Tlakula said hundreds of other voters were still using the IECâs website to
check their voting status. By midday on Saturday, the IEC had received 64 590
SMSs from people wishing to confirm their registration status. The call centre
had already received more than 30,000 calls and the website received 92 527
hits.
On Saturday, the IEC experienced challenges in few stations. In
KwaZulu-Natal, rain delayed the opening of some stations on the South Coast. In
all other areas, including Nongoma, stations opened on time and registration
was going smoothly.
In one station in Zeerust (North West) protesters attempted to stop people
from entering the voting stations, saying they wanted more delivery of services
from the government.
In Moutse, Limpopo, there were reports of intimidation against IEC staff at
six stations. Police accompanied IEC staff to open the stations.
âWith the assistance of the police, most of these problems have been
resolved. We are appealing to communities to support voter registration and
allow IEC staff to execute their duties,â said Tlakula.
Voters could still visit their voter registration stations today and on
Sunday between 8am and 5pm to register or check their details.
âWe call on eligible voters to finalise their details. We are grateful that
people are using our internet facility and call centre. We are pleading for
patience as we deal with the high volume of visits and requests for
information,â Tlakula said.
South Africans have been advised to SMS their ID number to 32810 or to visit
the IEC website on http://www.elections.org.za and enter their
ID number to find out if they need to register or change their details.
For more information contact:
Kate Bapela
Cell: 082 600 6386
Issued by: Independent Electoral Commission
7 February 2009
