By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has revealed an increase in the voters roll, with 27.79 million people registered for the polls.
The IEC gave an update on recent developments related to the elections, as the country readies for the May vote.
This is the highest number of registered voters since the dawn of democracy.
The voters’ roll will be certified by the Chief Electoral Officer on Tuesday.
After the certification, the voters’ roll will be published, and become available at the IEC’s head office, in all the provincial official and municipal offices for public access.
IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo said the certification follows the finalisation of objections on the provisional voters’ roll that was published for inspection last month.
“Since the voters’ roll was compiled for the first time ahead of the 1999 national and provincial elections, it (the voters’ roll) has shown steady growth of over 35 % percent and contains the highest number of registered voters, recording an increase of 9.6 million voters since the 1999 general elections
“The provincial breakdown of the registered voters indicate that Gauteng remains as the biggest voting block followed by the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, respectively.”
Of the 27. 79 million voters, 15 million are females, which represents over 55%.
Mamabolo said 11.7 million are voters aged 18-39 years.
“In fact, the increase in this age category from the 2021 Local Government Elections is over 200%, which vindicates the continued focus by the commission and other stakeholders to invert the under-representation of this category of voters.
“The introduction of the online self-service voter registration modality has contributed to the increased rate of registration by younger voters in the country, as well as by citizens who are resident outside of the republic.”