The Chief Electoral Officer Mr Mosotho Moepya has certified the voters’ roll for the 2016 Municipal Elections paving the way for a record 26 333 3535 voters to cast their ballots on 3 August.

The voters’ roll contains 2 678 307 more voters (11.3% increase) than in the previous Municipal Elections in 2011 and a 42.5% increase in the number of voters since the first Municipal Elections using a voters’ roll in 2000. It is also 943 203 more (3.7% increase) than were on the voters’ roll for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections.

The voters’ roll contains approximately 77% of all eligible citizens of voting age based on population estimates provided by Statistics South Africa.

In line with population trends and previous elections, approximately 55% of the voters (14.47 million) are women compared to 45% men (11.87 million).

Gauteng has the highest number of voters with 6.2 million certified voters followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 5.4 million, the Eastern Cape with 3.3 million and the Western Cape with 3 million. Approximately 69% of all voters are located in these four provinces.

The following are the provincial and gender breakdowns:

A comparison of the voters’ rolls over the past four Municipal Elections shows that the highest growth in voters has occurred in the Western Cape (56.8% increase since 2000) followed by KwaZulu-Natal (54.6% increase). The lowest growth has occurred in the Free State where the voters’ roll has grown just 20% in the past 16 years. Below is a breakdown per province since 2000:

In terms of age, approximately 48% of all voters are aged under 40 years old (12.7 million):

The relevant segments of the certified voters’ roll will be published from tomorrow for inspection at Electoral Commission local offices around the country.

Statement Issued by the Electoral Commission