Overview
- Voting stations opened nationwide on Saturday with the Independent Electoral Commission operating 23,699 sites and reporting hundreds of thousands of transactions by midday, including more than 238,000 processed across the country.
- The Department of Home Affairs extended office hours to 08:00–17:00 on both days to allow ID applications and collections, with more than 360,000 to 370,000 Smart ID documents still awaiting pickup that are needed to register.
- The IEC's online voter registration portal remains available until the election date is proclaimed but users may face delays on the data‑free service because of high demand.
- Local disruptions occurred at some stations when residents in places such as Mandela Park halted registration over candidate‑selection and service‑delivery grievances, while national and local leaders urged people—especially young and first‑time voters—to register.
- Once the weekend ends the COGTA minister is expected to proclaim the election date, which will close the voters' roll and trigger the IEC's timetable for candidate nomination deadlines and the printing of tens of millions of ballot papers.