As the final Electoral Commission’s voter registration weekend gets underway, Home Affairs offices across the country are open for citizens to apply for and collect their IDs this weekend.
“Home Affairs offices nationwide will be open from 8am to 5pm to support voter registration weekend for ID applications and collections only,” the Department of Home Affairs said in a post on social media platform, X.
This is as the Electoral Commission (IEC) has completed its preparations for the final voting station-based registration opportunity, with 23 699 voting stations set to operate across the country from 8am to 5pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
At a media briefing earlier in the week, the commission said it will deploy 48 212 trained electoral officials to assist voters with registration, updating their details, and verifying their registration information.
The Department of Home Affairs said more than 370000 Smart IDs are waiting to be collected.
Following the final registration weekend, the IEC anticipates that the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs will proclaim the date of the 2026 Local Government Elections.
The voters’ roll would close at midnight on the day the election is proclaimed.
Thereafter, no new registrations or changes to existing voter details will be permitted until after the elections, and the IEC will cease registration drives and deactivate its online registration portal.
South Africa will go to the polls in the Local Government Elections on 4 November.
