London, Dubai, The Hague: Top places South Africans abroad will vote

South Africans living abroad who want a say in the future of the country are mostly living in Europe, but the expats who are keen to vote in the May general elections span many major cities across the globe.

A total of 30,532 voters had applied to cast their vote in the national elections at one of SA’s 121 foreign missions, the Electoral Commission based in Centurion said in statement on Thursday. Of these, 29,334 were approved.

In 2014 the Electoral Commission received 26,716 approved applications to vote outside the country, of which 18,446 actually voted in the election.

The breakdown of approved applications per region in 2019 is:

• Africa 2,868
• Asia 7,174
• Europe 14,838
• North America 2,196
• Oceania 2,133
• South America 125

The top 10 foreign missions with the most approved applications are:

• London 9,084
• Dubai 1,542
• The Hague 1,355
• Canberra 1,195
• Abu Dhabi 1,061
• Wellington 927
• Dublin 817
• Kinshasa 797
• New York 605
• Doha 566

Voters whose applications have been approved will vote at the foreign missions on Saturday April 27.

South Africans will cast their ballots in the sixth democratic-era provincial and national government elections on May 8.