afrol News, 13 November - South Africa's 2009 elections are engaging voters as the country's political landscape is changing and the ruling ANC for the first time may experience a serious challenge. Over 21.6 million South Africans have already registered to vote next year.

During the weekend, 19,000 voter registration stations first opened their doors throughout the country to allow for new voters to enrol. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) at first was pessimistic about the turnout as the country was experiencing its heaviest rains for months.

But potential voters ignored the bad weather and patiently queued to be able to vote next year. More than 1.6 million new voters had been registered by the IEC only during the weekend. "We are proud to say that this was our most successful registration drive since 2000," said IEC chairperson Brigalia Bam yesterday.

"The drive has far surprised our expectations and we are delighted to see the success of the weekend drive to register new voters, especially the youth, who represent a majority of the weekend registration activity at 77.9 percent," Ms Bam added. Indeed, in the 20-29 age group, some 835,000 new voters were registered.

With this new group of registered voters, the IEC now has now over 21.6 million South Africans in its voter's roll. This could indicate that the country may have a record voter turnout in the upcoming elections. It is estimated that around 27 million South Africans are eligible to vote, but they need to register with the IEC.

Analysts hold that the sudden increase in political interest in the country is due to the split in the ruling African National Congress (ANC), bringing about a wide public debate about important issues such as democracy, transparency, economic policies, tactics to fight poverty and racism.

In addition to the widening of public debate, the ANC split also for the first time since the fall of apartheid promises to give voters at least two real options for a future government. Until recently, no realistic alternative to an ANC government existed, thus causing a voters' fatigue. Now, a two-party system may be sailing up in South Africa, creating new voter interest.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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