Final voter registration kicks off in South Africa

Voter registration has kicked off in South Africa this weekend with many political parties urging young voters to actively participate.

Although voters came in small groups at 8am when the stations opened, an hour later queues had formed as old and young people heeded the call to register to vote in the 3rd August polls.

“Our democracy is based on the participation of our people so it’s very important for people to come so that, even if they are not happy, they can rightfully claim that they’ve got a right to shake the government to deliver on issues that they feel that we don’t deliver but it’s very important as well to come and exercise their choice,” said Godfrey Tsotetsi, provincial leader, African National Congress.

“We are mobilizing society and we are saying the power is in your hands and we’ve got to today, register to vote, to vote for change so that we can change the future of this country. There can be no time in South Africa that’s more important than this time,” said Mmusi Maimane, leader of Democratic Alliance.

Morning South Africa. This is the final Registration Weekend. Register to Vote. Make A Change. pic.twitter.com/t3KctNNrWR— IG FreshFam_Ent (@FreshFam_Ent) April 9, 2016

The Independent Electoral Commission said more than three million first time voters registered in March. But around eight million people still need to formally register.

This year’s election is seen as the most hotly contested in the country since the dawn of democracy.