South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says voter registration activity during a weekend drive ahead of the 2026 local government elections totals nearly 2.9 million registrations. The IEC reports that the national voters’ roll increases to 28.5 million after the registration weekend, bringing the count of registered voters to that level. The commission presents the weekend campaign as a key step in preparing for the upcoming local election cycle, using the registration period to expand and update the voters’ roll. The IEC’s figures indicate that the registration process is ongoing and that the total registered voters reflected at the end of the weekend stands at 28.5 million, with the additional registrations from that campaign period close to 2.9 million. The IEC statement focuses on the scale of weekend registrations and the resulting size of the voters’ roll as of the reporting cut-off, without detailing further breakdowns in the information provided.