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More than 18 000 South African citizens living in 101 countries around the world have started registering to vote.
In a media briefing on the readiness of voters' registration ahead of this year's national election on Thursday, Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said 18 469 South Africans living abroad had registered using the newly launched online system, which has been operational since December 2023.
While the voter registration weekend for South Africans who are living abroad commences on Friday and will run until Sunday, Mamabolo said most South Africans living in the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Germany have already enrolled for voting.
According to the IEC, 5938 South Africans have registered in the United Kingdom, 1844 in Germany, 746 in the Netherlands, 821 in the United States, 675 in Ireland, 1068 in the United Arab Emirates, 515 in China, 588 in Australia, 314 in New Zealand, 293 in Cuba, 284 in Portugal and 280 in Belgium.
While in Africa, South Africans have begun to register in 28 countries, including Mauritius (316), Lesotho (224), Namibia (148), Botswana (170), Zambia (96), Zimbabwe (77), Kenya (73), Ghana (45) and Tanzania (40).
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The IEC opened an online registration facility for the first time to allow citizens outside the country to register for the 2024 national election.
IEC Commissioner Janet Love admitted: “We do not at this stage have the possibility of voting online, as we have communicated in interactions. The IEC has been looking at ways of using technology increasingly. It is something that we have to look at for not just people who are living abroad but for South Africans.
“In the 2019 election, about 21 000 South Africans voted abroad, with 7 023 of them being newly registered. The commission hopes that the introduction of an online registration system will attract the majority of citizens from abroad,” said Mamabolo.
The IEC has appealed to citizens living outside the country to take advantage of the upcoming overseas voter registration weekend on 26, 27 and 28 January 2024.
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Love added that for people living in Ukraine, Israel and Sudan, the IEC could only encourage them to register to vote. “If you are not registered, even if we hope the situation in the three countries will abate and we will have a situation where people can vote and people can go to missions, then they still will not be able to vote,” she added.
