Independent Electoral Commission chairperson Brigalia Bam said the IEC will be ready to stage general elections on 15 April, SABC radio reported on Thursday.

"We have been able, as the IEC, to follow very strictly, with precision, the dates in which we have to be ready and that is according to our Constitution ? which is the 15th of April, and we are ready, definitely, on that day," Bam told the public broadcaster, but stopped short of officially announcing the election date.

President Kgalema Motlanthe is widely expected to announce the date for general elections this year at the opening of Parliament on Friday.