South Africa adds 754,000 voters before local elections

South Africa’s Electoral Commission has added more than 750,000 new voters to the national roll ahead of local government elections scheduled for November, with a final registration weekend drawing significant participation from young people. The commission reported that 1.7 million voter registration transactions were recorded on August 1 and 2, bringing the total number of registered voters to approximately 29 million.

Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo, speaking at a media briefing on August 3, said the two registration drives held in June and August resulted in nearly 4.7 million interactions with voters and added 754,000 new voters. Since the 2024 national elections, 2.1 million voters have been added to the roll. During the same period, about 844,000 voters were removed due to deaths, an average of 34,000 per month.

Of the 1.7 million transactions during the final weekend, 291,016 were first-time registrations, while about 1.5 million involved already registered voters inspecting or updating their details. Mamabolo emphasized the importance of accurate registration for local elections, noting that voters must be registered at a voting station within the ward where they...