A total of 30 532 voters have applied to cast their vote in the national elections at one of South Africa’s 121 foreign missions.
The applications were received by the deadline to submit a notification to vote abroad (using a VEC 10 form) on Wednesday 13 March. Of these, 29 334 were approved.
In 2014, the Electoral Commission received 27 899 applications to vote outside the country of which 26 716 were approved and a total of 18 446 actually voted in the election.
The breakdown of approved applications per region is as follows:
| Region | Total approved applications |
| Africa | 2 868 |
| Asia | 7 174 |
| Europe | 14 838 |
| North America | 2 196 |
| Oceania | 2 133 |
| South America | 125 |
| Total | 29 334 |
The top 10 foreign missions with the most applications are:
| Mission | Approved applicants |
| 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 mission indicated on Saturday 27 April 2019 between 7am and 7pm. They are required to take with them their South African ID document (either a green barcoded ID, a smartcard ID or a valid temporary ID certificate) AND their valid passport.
