Voter registration is encouraging, but will these numbers turn into votes?

During Mzansi’s latest voter-registration weekend, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) recorded 2.9 million registration transactions, including 477 174 first-time registrations. The voters’ roll has now grown to 28.5 million registered voters, up from the 27.7 million recorded for the 2024 national and provincial elections.

The real question is whether these newly registered voters will actually show up on 4 November 2026, when South Africa holds its local government elections.

The 2024 polls were widely described as watershed elections, with voters angry about corruption, unemployment, the cost of living, and the ANC’s long dominance. Of 27.78 million registered voters, only 16.2 million voted, a turnout of about 58%.

A place of anger

On paper, the 2026 local government elections should be exactly the kind of elections that bring people out. These are the elections of broken streetlights, sewage spills, potholes, refuse collection, water cuts, and billing disasters.

Many residents are living with the daily collapse of basic municipal services. Local government is where the state becomes visible. That should motivate more voters to vote. Anger can push people to vote. But it can also cause them to give up.

Voters are interested, but not convinced

An Ipsos survey in March found that 47% of South Africans said no political party represents their views, despite more than 500 parties being registered with the IEC. The same survey found that only 38% of respondents believe their local government or municipality is doing its job well.

The survey also found that 38% of eligible voters surveyed have no interest in politics and elections, although 64% say they want to vote in the upcoming local elections.

Democracy under pressure

The IEC’s voter participation survey, conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council, paints an even more worrying picture.

The survey found that the preference for democracy has fallen from about 65% in the mid-2000s to a historic low of 36% in 2025/26. It also found that a fatalistic view – the idea that the type of political system “does not matter” – has grown to 34%.

This suggests some South Africans are not only unhappy with politicians. They are losing confidence in democracy as a system for changing their lives.

University of the Witwatersrand professor Alex van den Heever told /explain/ declining voter turnout and souring views on democracy can be linked to widespread governance failures, including corruption and poor service delivery, as well as the ANC’s long monopoly on power.

He added that some decline in participation is expected over time as the euphoria of democracy fades. That 1994 feeling was never going to last forever. Eventually, people want water, jobs, safety, and roads without potholes.

Van den Heever believes voter despondency could weaken in the upcoming local elections because the 2024 national elections showed people their votes can shift power.

The ANC lost its outright national majority for the first time, leading to the formation of the Government of National Unity. For voters who had begun to believe nothing ever changes, that was proof that election results can still force politicians into new arrangements.

“Although local governance has traditionally been seen as less influential than national leadership, growing service-delivery failures are prompting stronger public reactions,” van den Heever said. “There’s a renewed understanding that only elections, not protests, can remove a government.

Of the 477,174 first-time registrations, 379,767, or 80%, came from people aged 16 to 29. Young people also accounted for 785 078 registration transactions overall.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo argued the figures show the youth-focused campaign is resonating and that young people are “not apathetic”.

Young people are often described as “politically lazy”, but many are not disengaged from politics itself, but from political parties.

Young people protest. They organise. They debate. They mobilise online. They care about unemployment, tertiary fees, corruption, crime, Palestine, climate, gender-based violence, and public services. The issue is whether they believe a ballot can do what a protest, petition, or hashtag cannot.

Fighting for turnout

The ANC, DA, and MK Party all used the registration weekend to push mobilisation efforts, with senior leaders deployed to encourage supporters to get onto the roll.

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa was on the ground in Tshwane during the registration campaign. Meanwhile, DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis and Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille visited areas in Cape Town and Johannesburg, respectively.

The DA was the only one of the three parties to respond to /explain/ by the time of publication.

DA spokesperson Jan de Villiers said the party planned to build momentum by pushing its manifesto and governance record.

“Voter registration is only the first step to get voters out on 4 November,” he said. In the weeks ahead, de Villiers said the party would make its case to voters and let them know they have the power to choose who represents them in government.

Van den Heever said parties will have to do more than stick posters on poles if they want turnout to rise. Door-to-door campaigning, he argued, will matter.

Will voters actually turn out?

The registration numbers are encouraging. The IEC says its online-registration portal will remain open until the official proclamation of the election. A second registration weekend has been announced for 1 and 2 August.

Millions of people still feel politically homeless. Trust in parties is weak. Many South Africans are exhausted by broken promises and unstable coalitions.

For citizens, van den Heever’s advice is just as direct: don’t fall for the “politics of distraction”. Focus on what directly affects your life, particularly service-delivery failures.

You don’t need to wait for the next official registration weekend to register. You can check your status or register by visiting the IEC website at www.elections.org.

Prashalan Govender is a journalist who was shortlisted for the Vodacom Young Journalist of the Year Award twice. He is focused on reporting the stories that shape everyday life in South Africa, with a particular interest in politics, economics, and social issues.