3 AUG 2026IEC adds 754 000 new voters over two registration weekendsNkateko Joseph Mabasa3 min read

The Electoral Commission of South Africa recorded 299 000 new voters over the 1 and 2 August voter registration weekend. Voter registration is set to close on Friday, 7 August The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has added 754 000 first-time voters to the national voters’ roll during its June and August voter registration weekends, bringing the total number of registered voters to about 29 million before the 2026 local government elections in November. Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo said the August registration weekend recorded 291 000 new voters.

“Collectively, the two registration weekends held in June and August contributed 754 000 new voters, adding to the continued growth of the voters’ roll ahead of the 2026 local government elections,” he said. The commission said 2.1 million voters had been added to the roll since the 2024 general elections. During the same period, about 844 000 voters were removed because of deaths, which is an average of 34 000 a month.

More than 1.7 million people interacted with the IEC during the registration weekend on 1 and 2 August by visiting one of the country’s 23 699 voting stations or using the online voter registration portal. Of those interactions, 291 000 (16%) were first-time registrations, while about 1.5 million (84%) involved voters updating their registration details, particularly their addresses. KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of registration transactions at 427 000, followed by Gauteng with 314 000 and the Eastern Cape with 313 000.

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Limpopo recorded 209 000 transactions, followed by the Western Cape (134 000), Mpumalanga (133 000), North West (116 000), the Free State (97 000) and the Northern Cape (47 000). Mamabolo said online registration continued to account for a significant share of voter activity, particularly in the country’s more urbanised provinces. “The online portal contributed 238 000 transactions over the two days.

The highest usage was recorded in Gauteng with 86 000 transactions, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 41 000 and the Western Cape with 33 000,” he said. Young people aged between 16 and 29 accounted for 485 000, or 26%, of all voter registration weekend transactions. KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of youth registrations with 137 000, followed by Gauteng with 86 000 and the Eastern Cape with 79 000.

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