MBOMBELA – More than 25 000 young people under the age of 21 registered to vote in Mpumalanga during the Electoral Commission of South Africa's (IEC) voter registration weekend ahead of the 4 November 2026 Local Government Elections.
The province recorded 212 281 voter registrations and registration updates over the weekend of 20 and 21 June, placing Mpumalanga sixth nationally.
According to the Electoral Commission's statement issued on 22 June 2026, nearly three million South Africans registered or updated their details during the registration weekend, compared with 1.7 million in 2021. Of Mpumalanga's 40 722 first-time voters, 25 199 were under the age of 21.
IEC Mpumalanga spokesperson Thanduxolo Chembeni said 2 680 registrants were under the age of 18, while 22 519 were between the ages of 18 and 21. A further 186 000 registrants were older than 21.
Chembeni said the figures showed that young people were actively participating in the electoral process.
"It is not an easy outcome to get. This is due to a lot of effort directed at voters to come out and register, especially the youth, so that they are ready to vote on 4 November," he said.
He credited the IEC's Tertiary Institution Campaign, which ran from January to March, with helping register students at colleges and universities across the province.
"We managed to register a lot of youth at institutions of higher learning," he said.
He added that political parties and civil society organisations also encouraged young people to register.
While 40 722 people registered for the first time, 171 559 existing voters updated or confirmed their registration details, accounting for 81% of voter activity in the province.
The IEC has encouraged voters who have moved because of study, work or other reasons to update their registration details before the elections.
In local government elections, voters may only vote at the voting station where they are registered.
To encourage more registrations, the IEC has made its Online Voter Registration Portal zero-rated, allowing voters to register or update their details without using mobile data.
A second voter registration weekend will take place on 1 and 2 August 2026, while online registration will remain open until the end of that registration period.
The national voters' roll now stands at 28.5 million voters.
Seventeen-year-old Simangaliso Sindane from Ward 23 in Mhluzi said registering for the first time gave him an opportunity to influence the future of his community.
"I registered because I want to help make the right decisions for the area I live in. Right now, things are not going the way they should, so I believe my vote will make a difference in choosing someone who can best represent my interests," he said.
