South Africa's IEC reports over 28 million voters registered ahead of 2026 local elections

South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said more than 28 million citizens are now on the voters’ roll after the final in‑person registration weekend that ran across 23,699 stations nationwide. The IEC chief electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo, noted that the majority of transactions were updates to existing records, with new registrations accounting for about 13 % of activity. Strong turnout was recorded in KwaZulu‑Natal, the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, while the eThekwini Metro saw a disappointing number of young registrants – only 5,889 people aged 16‑35 signed up.

The commission highlighted the growing role of its online portal, which handled roughly 20,000 registrations during the weekend despite technical glitches with a data‑free service. IEC officials also announced plans to introduce a new electoral code of conduct aimed at countering disinformation, to take effect when the election date is officially proclaimed. The voters’ roll will close at midnight on that proclamation day, after which no further registrations or changes will be accepted.

The IEC will present final registration figures at a media briefing and the government is set to gazette the 4 November 2026 local government election date later this week.