Smooth and safe elections delivered in SA

About 154 000 South Africans had the opportunity to vote thanks to the Department of Home Affairs extended working hours.

This was highlighted by Minister of Police Bheki Cele during a media briefing by the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster on Monday  following the conclusion of the elections this weekend.

 “The Department of Home of Affairs assisted 154 000 to collect their IDs or to apply for temporary identity certificates within the three days which the department operated extended hours.”

“The Department of Home Affairs also worked with local municipalities to issue more than 500 temporary identity certificates in places affected by floods in eThekwini Municipality and 255 in the OR Tambo Municipality in the Eastern Cape,” he said.

Hotspots

Three National Intervention Teams were deployed to stabilise the hotspot areas as identified by the Intelligence Coordinating Committee. These areas included Vuwani in Limpopo, Nongoma and Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal and Bloemhof and Brits in the North West.

Minister Cele further said there was a deployment of the Cash In Transit unit, Gang Intervention units in the Eastern Cape, the Operation Thunder unit in the Western Cape and Presidential Intervention and Political Killings Interventions in KwaZulu-Natal’s Emanguzi area.

A total of 22 suspects were arrested, after attempting to vote for a second time during the 2019 General Elections.

“Nineteen suspects were arrested in KwaZulu-Natal of which 17 were alleged to have transgressed in Dannhauser, two in Hluhluwe, one in Sawoti and one in Izingolweni whilst the 22nd suspect was arrested in Douglasdale in Gauteng… In relation to alleged multiple voting, a total of eight cases and 24 arrests were noted.”

In terms of crime in general during the election period, police registered 188 cases. A total of 203 suspects have been arrested and 53 cases are currently in court.

In the build-up to the elections, government established the Intelligence Coordinating Committee and conducted threat assessments and identified problematic areas on an ongoing basis.

“Both these aspects impacted on the risk rating of voting stations that was also reviewed on an ongoing basis. Although the problematic areas were fluid, depending on the circumstances at any given time, they remained located in specific clusters. Our success in ensuring stability in the country is as the result of the ongoing integrated effort of the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee,” Minister Cele said.