Johannesburg - The Electoral Commission will on Tuesday publish a list of all the voting stations ahead of the general elections taking place on May 8.
IEC executive chairperson Sy Mamabolo on Tuesday said a list of voting stations will be available on the commission’s website as well as at its national and provincial offices.
Up to 22 924 voting stations, as well as their addresses, will be placed online by the close of business on Tuesday.
There will also be a list of 32 mobile voting stations with their stopping times and routes.
Meanwhile, on March 1, the commission published notice of the provisional voters’ roll in the Government Gazette.
Political parties, the media and members of the public have until March 8 to inspect the interim voters’ roll and to lodge any discrepancies or irregularities that may appear on the roll.
“These were made available on Friday in line with the time IEC’s timetable. This is a new feature. We wanted to create a structured opportunity so that the voters' roll can be inspected so that we don’t deal with the roll two days before the election. Anyone who has an interest in the matter should do so by Friday,” Mamabolo said.
He added on March 14 the IEC will investigate the objections and make any changes where necessary.
The publication and certification of the final voters’ roll will take place on March 18.
On March 13, South Africans voting outside the country will be given an opportunity to inform the IEC that they will not be in the country on the day of elections and will be voting from their respective locations.
In his opening remarks at the IEC’s media workshop in Sandton, chairperson Glenn Mashinini said the commission had a constitutional mandate to ensure free and fair elections.
He further said the Electoral Act makes provision for the IEC to work with the media.
He also pointed out that the electoral code also set out responsibilities for political parties.
“Every party that signs the electoral code with us they must respect the role of the media, before and during the elections. They may not prevent access of media to rallies and should take every reasonable step to ensure media is not exposed to a hazardous environment,” he said.
In the meantime, 299 political parties have been successfully registered so far.
For them to contest elections they need to pay the prescribed deposits of R605 000 by March 13.
To contest elections for the National Assembly parties must pay R200 000 and for provincial seats R45 000.