Thousands of eligible voters were using the last day of the Electoral Commission's (IEC) registration drive on Sunday to register as new voters, re-register if they had moved or changed residence or to inspect their details on the voter's roll.

The IEC said it was confident that it will reach its target of 22-million voters by the time President Kgalema Motlanthe proclaims the date of the election and the voters' roll closes.

"We expect final figures of the registration weekend around Wednesday. We are confident that we will reach our target of 22-million eligible voters on the voters' roll," said Brigalia Bam, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission.

All 19,726 registration stations were opened, including those delayed by rainfall and in Moutse where six stations did not open on Saturday because of protests and intimidation of eligible voters and IEC staff. The few service delivery protests did not affect the registration process. Police officers were securing all voting stations to ensure the safety of voters.

The weekend's voter registration drive gave new voters a chance to register. Eligible ones were being given a chance to check their voter registration status, including confirming their voting stations for the 2009 polls.

By 11pm on Saturday an estimated 1-milllion people had visited the voting stations to either register, re-register if they had moved or changed residence or to inspect their details on the voters' roll. The IEC's website had more than 46 786 hits and 65 472 SMSes had been received.

By Sunday at midday the IEC's website had recorded a total of 22 079 hits while the SMS facility had received 29 538 messages and 22 848 callers had contacted the Call Centre to enquire about their registration status or at which station they should register.

So far, over the two days, the IEC's website has received more than 68 865 hits and the SMS facility had reached 95 010.