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With around 90 days remaining before the Local Government Elections, the Electoral Commission (IEC) in Gauteng Province reminds all eligible South Africans that the weekend of 1 and 2 August 2026 marks the final voting station-based registration opportunity. Once the final voter registration weekend has concluded, the Electoral Commission anticipates that the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) will proclaim the date of the 2026 Local Government Elections. Proclamation has profound consequences:
Firstly, the voters’ roll closes at midnight on the day the election is proclaimed. From that point onwards, no new voter registrations or changes to existing voter registration details may be processed until after the elections. Consequently, the Electoral Commission will cease all registration drives and deactivate the online voter registration portal. Secondly, the Electoral Code of Conduct issued in terms of the Municipal Electoral Act comes into operation until the election results are announced. The purpose of the Code is to foster conditions for free and fair elections by creating a climate of tolerance, open public debate and free political campaigning.
The Commission wishes to indicate that the “no go” zones go against both the letter and spirit of the Code. We reiterate that all registered political parties, the leaders and office bearers of parties, candidates nominated by parties and independent candidates are bound by the Code. Thirdly, candidate nomination processes for party candidates and independent candidates may commence. To this end, the Commission has activated the Online Candidate Nomination System to facilitate nomination. The system is accessible via the public website at www.elections.org.za. Fourthly, the Electoral Commission must publish an Election Timetable, in terms of which electoral activities and their cut-off date and time must be administered.
The timetable will be gazetted following proclamation. Accordingly, the Commission calls on all eligible South Africans who have not yet registered as voters, those who are registered but have not yet inspected their address details for completeness, or those who have moved residence since they last registered, to use this final opportunity to secure their place on the voters’ roll. Participation in elections begins with registration, enabling citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
Registration weekend readiness
The province has completed its final operational preparations for the upcoming voter registration weekend. For the final voter registration weekend, Gauteng will operate 2,834 voting stations across the province comprising of 2,631 permanent voting stations and 213 temporary voting stations.
A breakdown of voting station count per municipality and type is as follows:
Municipality Voting Stations Permanent Voting Stations.
Temporary Voting Station
- City of Ekurhuleni 653 629 24
- Emfuleni 168 164 4
- Midvaal 39 36 3
- Lesedi 40 39 1
- Mogale City 115 93 22
- Merafong 77 56 21
- Rand West City 86 65 21
- City of Johannesburg 861 800 62
- City of Tshwane 795 739 57
- Province 2,834 2,631 213
All registration stations will operate from 08h00 to 17h00 on both Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd August. The province will once again deploy 6,352 trained electoral officials who will be on hand to welcome and assist eligible voters to register, update their details, or verify their registration information ahead of the elections.
Strong Uptake of Online Voter Registration (OVR) Services Following the first voter registration weekend in June 2026, the Province has to date recorded more than 502,224 voter registration transactions. Of these, over 362,320 (74%) were processed through station visit and 140,000 were the Online Voter Registration (OVR) portal with Gauteng leading in the country, underscoring the growing use of the digital online registration platform among South Africans.
Women remain the leading users of the online registration platform, accounting for 61% of all online registration activity. Young people are also embracing digital registration in significant numbers, with the 16–29 age cohort contributing 50% of all online transactions. The Electoral Commission continues to encourage South Africans to take advantage of the online self-service portal, which is data-free and accessible 24/7, to register to vote and update their registration details.
While the upcoming registration weekend is the final in-person opportunity to register or update voter details, the online service will remain active until Proclamation Day. The Electoral Commission in Gauteng province urges eligible voters not to wait until the last minute to register or update their details as this creates avoidable pressure on registration channels. Utilize the digital services to register online, verify registration details and locate your voting stations at http://maps.iec.org.za/vsfinder/.
Register where you live – vote where you are registered
The Electoral Commission once again reminds voters that local government elections are fundamentally different from national and provincial elections. Only voters who are ordinarily resident in a ward must influence the outcome of elections. Therefore, voters must be registered in a voting district in a ward where they ordinarily reside. Unlike national and provincial elections, there is no legal provision permitting voters to vote outside the voting district where they are registered during local government elections. Voters who have relocated since their last registration are strongly encouraged to update their residential addresses to ensure that they are assigned to the correct ward.
The Commission’s message is simple: Register where you live. Vote where you are registered. As the country begins the final countdown to Election Day, we call on every eligible South African to play their part by making use of this last voter registration weekend. The Electoral Commission remains committed to delivering elections that are free, fair, transparent and credible. Furthermore, the Electoral Commission is committed to ensuring that every eligible South African can exercise their constitutional right to vote. The Department of Home Affairs will once again align its operating hours with the Commission’s voter registration activities ensuring that eligible voters requiring identity documents have access to the necessary services during the registration weekend.
THIS ADVERTORIAL WAS ISSUED BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Ensuring free, fair and credible elections
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