Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo on Tuesday declared that the IEC is ready for the 2024 national and provincial elections and reminded South Africans that they have a duty to elect public representatives who will guide the course of the country's national future.

Mamabolo was speaking at the IEC’s launch of the 2024 elections campaign, in Midrand, under the theme "Your Democracy. Own It”. The elections will be held as the country marks 30 years of democracy.

He said an election was possible between May and the middle of August 2024 and that, in terms of the Constitution, the country must have an election within 90 days of the expiry of the legislatures’ terms.

Mambolo said that while the term of office of the current legislatures ends around May 18, the national and provincial governments would remain in office until the newly elected public representatives are able to take office.

“The proclamation of the election date is by our head of state, His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa after consultation with the electoral commission. Our expectation is that the provincial elections will, as they have for the past 30 years, be synchronised with the national election,” he added.

He said the 2024 elections would be historic as independent candidates would, for the first time, be able to contest the national and provincial elections.

In April, Ramaphosa signed into law legislation enabling the participation of independent candidates.

Mamabolo shared that the changes in the electoral system in as far as the independent candidates is concerned has also affected the IEC business operations.

At a high level, some of the implications to the electoral systems are supporting technology applications are being rewritten anew, this includes the candidate nomination system as well as the results system.

November 18 and 19 of this year will be set aside as a voter registration weekend when 23 296 voting stations will be open across the country to allow new voters to register, while registered citizens will have an opportunity to amend their details if they have changed addresses.

The IEC issued a clarion call to South Africans to use the Commission's online portal for registration, verification and updates or to make use of the WhatsApp Chat box via 0600 88 00 00.

"We urge you to actively participate in the registration weekends and exercise your responsibility as engaged citizens who choose their own representatives. We extend a call to all electoral stakeholders to stand shoulder to shoulder with us, working collaboratively to make these historic elections a resounding success," Mamabolo said.

The voters roll currently stands at 26.2-million people. Of this, 95% have a complete address recorded against their names.  

Women have a greater representation at a voters roll while 14.4-million against men at 11.6-million.  

The age category with a highest representation is 30 to 39 years with 6.6-million voters, followed by ages between 40 to 49 at 5.8-million voters on the roll. Voters between the ages of 50 to 59 years are represented by 4.4-million voters on the roll.

Young persons between the ages of 20 to 29 account for 3.7-million voters on the roll.

The IEC has said that it will target 80 000 community events where it will conduct voter education, which it said was crucial.