The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) has sought to assure South Africans that a conducive environment for a peaceful election has been prepared.
This emerged during a media briefing held in Pretoria, led by the South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the State Security Agency (SSA), commonly known as the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster.
“As the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) which is led by the South African Police Service, the South African National Defence Force, and the State Security Agency, we are confident that the measures that have been put in place are sufficient to ensure that the country’s upcoming general elections proceed without any incidents of crime and disruptions.
Having conducted a national security assessment with key role players in the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster, we are satisfied with the operational plan that is currently being implemented and can assure South Africans that a conducive environment for a peaceful election has been prepared,” said the Deputy National Commissioner of the SAPS, Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili.
The briefing comes ten days before the country heads to the polls on 29 May for the National and Provincial elections, which marks the country’s seventh democratic elections.
Mosikili said working through the Operational Intelligence Co-ordination Committee (OICC), the NATJOINTS has already identified several high-risk voting stations and potentially volatile areas that are being monitored on an on-going basis.
“Deployments are subsequently proportional to the level of risk identified through intensified operations, informed by thorough analysis and intelligence-based reports.
Threats identified such as community protests are already being attended to and those that are found to be in contravention of the law are being dealt with.
Our Public Order Policing Units are on the ground and are ready to prevent and combat any such incidents,” explained Mosikili.
According to the Lieutenant-General, law enforcement agencies had also been trained on the Electoral Act and other legislation in support of the 2024 national and provincial elections.
Mosikili also reminded communities that the constitution provides that every citizen is free to make political choices, which includes the right to participate in the activities of, or recruit members for a political party and to campaign for a political party or cause.
“With this said, we caution communities not to vandalise, deface and remove posters of political parties as this constitutes an offence. Anyone found to be tampering with these posters or vandalising them will be arrested. Such cases have been reported and arrests have been made,” warned Mosikili.
In relation to the third phase, which is the period after election results have been officially announced, plans are already in place for police celebrations and gatherings.
