The election season has officially begun, with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) declaring its preparedness to hold elections in 2024 — and political parties expressing their readiness for what are predicted to be the most contentious elections since 1994.
“The Electoral Commission is resolute and gearing up to conduct the 2024 national and provincial elections. We urge all South Africans to use our online portal, register and update their details, and participate actively in this pivotal democratic process.
“We urge citizens to visit voting stations on November 18 and 19. We call upon all stakeholders to stand united with us to deliver the 2024 general elections,” IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said on Tuesday.
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Mamabolo was speaking at the National and Provincial Elections 2024 (NPE2024) campaign kickoff in Midrand, Gauteng.
He stated that the periods of the sixth National Assembly and the nine provincial legislatures will end in the middle of May 2024. A seventh democratic parliament must be elected within 90 days of that date.
The window for national elections runs from May to mid-August 2024, with President Cyril Ramaphosa having the right to pick the date after consulting with the IEC, he added.
“Those consultations have commenced but are yet to be concluded. A similar framework applies in respect of provincial legislatures, wherein the provincial premiers are entrusted responsibility to call and set a date for elections after consulting with the commission.”
Plans are being made to hold general elections as soon as feasible during the constitutional window time. Next year’s elections will mark the 30th anniversary of the country’s democracy, with independent candidates running for seats in the national and provincial legislatures.
“Individuals not affiliated to political parties can stand as candidates for legislatures at both national and provincial levels.”
For the elections, a total of 23,269 polling stations have been designated. The first voter registration weekend is scheduled for November 18 and 19, with additional days being considered.
“Just under 68,000 staff have been recruited and are in the final stages of training ahead of the registration weekend. The number of voting staff will increase to approximately 300,000 by the time of the elections,” said Mamabolo.
260 tonnes of registration material and equipment have been sent to the nine provincial warehouses to ensure the registration process runs smoothly.
“The estimate of logistical material to be handled for the election itself is approximately 610 tonnes excluding ballot papers.
“To date more than 1-million transactions have been processed on the online registration portal, of which 439,000 are new registrations. As predicted, most new registrations on the portal are young persons in the age category 20 to 25.”
Mamabolo stated that the commission is in discussions with telecommunications firms about zero-rating the online registration gateway ahead of the elections.
“The voters’ roll stands at 26.2-million people. Women have a greater representation on the voters’ roll at 14.4-million against men whose representation is 11.6-million.
“The age category with the highest representation is 30 to 39 with 6.6-million voters, followed by the age category 40 to 49 at 5.8-million and the 50 to 59 category at 4.4-million.”
Young people aged 20 to 29 account for 3.7 million registered voters.
