The United Arab Emirates plays host to around 100,000 South African expats, and 2,000 of them are expected to vote Wednesday ahead of South Africa’s May 7 elections, according to Emirates24/7.

They’ll have jobs in mind when they vote from afar — that’s likely what made them leave South Africa in the first place, said Mpetjane Kgaogelo Lekgoro, South African ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Lekgoro spoke to Emirates24/7 about the South African community in the UAE.

“The issues the electorate wants to address are really issues of employment,” Lekgoro said. “People will like to put a government in place in the understanding that they are going to resolve issues  of unemployment, as well as issues such as the divide between the rich and the poor, the high costs of healthcare, further improvement of education and of the general infrastructure.”

About 26,000 South Africans living abroad registered to vote by the March 12 deadline. They’ll cast their ballots April 30 in cities around the world — a week earlier than voters at home, SouthAfrica.info reports.

South Africans living in United Arab Emirates are mostly skilled workers looking for jobs with a good salary. They are active in the financial services, health care and business, Lekgoro told  Emirates24/7.

This year marks South Africa’s fifth general election since 1994. South Africans this week celebrated the 20th anniversary of the end of apartheid.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) said 25,390,150 voters registered for the May 7 elections — a 9.5 percent increase over 2009. They represent 80.8 percent of all voters.

In 2009, Dubai ranked No. 3 with 900 votes on a list of places with the highest number of votes from South Africans abroad. That number is expected to be higher in 2014 — the first year expats were allowed to register to vote from abroad, Lekgoro said.

“I do not think people leave South Africa because they do not want to go back,” Lekgoro said. “South Africans mostly migrate in search for better jobs, such as is the case with most South Africans in the UAE.”

Here’s a list of the top 21 cities with the most number of registered South African voters, according to SouthAfrica.info:

London – 9,863
Dubai – 1,539
Canberra – 1,243
Kinshasa – 773
Hague – 667
New York – 604
Qatar – 557
Abu Dhabi – 540
Dublin – 466
Khartoum (Sudan) – 458
New Zealand – 406
Cuba – 395
Namibia – 361
Botswana – 357
Washington – 356
Seoul – 345
Berlin – 342
Berne – 340
Los Angeles – 338
Hong Kong – 330