The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has announced that the 2019 general elections will take place in May 2019. EIC briefed the media in Pretoria on its readiness to host the elections.
This will be the sixth general election to be held in the country since the ushering in of democracy in the 1994.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will proclaim the date in February.
The final voters’ registration weekend will take place at the end of January.
The country’s 22 932 voting stations will open from 08h00 to 17h00 on Saturday 26 January and Sunday 27 January 2019 to allow new voters to register and existing voters to update and to check their registration details.
IEC Chairperson Glen Mashinini says, “The President then announced his intention to hold elections before the end of May which has now narrowed that the election will take place in may and we normally do it on a public holiday, on a Wednesday. It will be one of those Wednesdays within the month of May after the 7th of May.”
The IEC also used the media briefing to introduce the three new commissioners appointed by the President following the recommendation of the National Assembly and an extensive interview process conducted by a panel chaired by the Chief Justice and comprising heads of institutions supporting democracy.
The new commissioners are:
-Dr Nomsa Masuku, who until her appointment served as Deputy Chief Electoral Officer for Outreach,
-Mr Mosotho Moepya, the former Chief Electoral Officer,
-and Judge Dhaya Pillay of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court.
They replace Mr Terry Tselane, Rev Bongani Finca and Judge Thami Makhanya whose seven year terms came to an end this year. The term of the new commissioners is effective from 5 November 2018.
