The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) would like to add its voice to that of government in thanking the vast majority of South Africans for their peaceful and lawful conduct over the election period.
General Riah Phiyega, the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, which is the lead department of the NATJOINTS, has expressed her appreciation for the hard work and professional conduct of the security forces and other role players
Several months of intensive planning resulted in the implementation of a comprehensive security plan which saw deployments of security forces to certain areas in the country months prior to the General Election on 7 May 2014, as part of the pre-election phase of the plan. During this pre-election phase, Ministers and Directors General of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPC) Cluster visited hotspots throughout the country to review security plans and engage communities. These actions resulted in a secure and stable atmosphere in the hotspot areas during the election phase of the security plan.
On Wednesday 7 May, while the citizens of the country voted, a number of election-related cases were registered at police stations throughout the country, more than half of those related to contraventions of the Electoral Act, Act 73 of 1988. The other cases related to common law offences such as intimidation, assault, theft, malicious damage to property and two cases in which lives were lost, one of culpable homicide and one of murder.
We can give a preliminary figure of 224 individuals having been arrested in 287 reported cases for allegedly committing election-related offences from the time of the first registration weekend to date. These figures do not include those arrested for having taken part in unlawful protest actions during this period. These cases are currently under investigation and/or in the judicial process, with inter alia 83 cases pending before the courts and 135 still under investigation.
The NATJOINTS would like to stress that our deployments throughout the country remain in place during this post-election phase of the security plan and will do so until the final outcome of the voting process has been announced and accepted by all communities. Where there are sporadic outbreaks of violence, such as witnessed in Alexandra, the security forces will deal with the situation firmly and within the confines of the law.
Media Enquiries:
Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale
Mobile: 082 781 8863
