Today all departments and organisations which form part of the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) activated their 24 hour deployments at the National Joint Operational Centre (NATJOC) at a military base in Pretoria.
This structure is duplicated in all nine provinces. As is usual practice in terms of securing major events, the South African Police Service is the lead department of the NATJOINTS and chairs the National Joint Operational Committee meetings which take place daily and during which all departments give briefings and updates on the security and intelligence picture countrywide.
Other departments represented at the NATJOC include the South African National Defence Force, the Independent Electoral Commission, Government Communication and Information Systems, the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Health, the State Security Agency, various intelligence agencies, the Department of Cooperative Governance which includes the National Disaster Management Centre, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Metro Police, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the South African Revenue Service. The NATJOINTS has been preparing and planning for the local government elections 2011 for several months and the official pre-election phase started on 7.
December 2010, during this stage various activities took place including confirming polling station sites and conducting site visits, conducting security and intelligence assessments, securing the two registration weekends, identifying and stabilising identified high risk areas, conducting integrated training, safeguarding election material and securing the results centres. On election day, 18 May 2011 the South African Police Service, together with the Independent Electoral Commission, will safeguard the inner perimeters of the 20 864 polling stations, the SAPS, together with the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in certain areas, will secure the outer perimeters of polling stations, escort election material and perform general crime prevention duties.
A reaction capability comprising of the SAPS, SANDF and South African Air Force will be on standby to rapidly react to any contingency. However, it must again be emphasised that there is no major threat against the holding of a free and fair election. After all registered voters have cast their votes, the security forces will be responsible for policing the result centres and the counting process, maintaining law and order and performing general crime prevention duties.
A dedicated team of detectives are based at the NAJTOC, as well as in all areas, in order to speedily investigate election-related cases and take those cases through the courts in cooperation with the National Prosecuting Authority. Normal policing duties will at all times continue in all communities.
The NATJOINTS will follow the same model of securing the Local Government Elections as was followed during the FIFA 2010 World Cup and previous elections. Therefore all security actions and reactions will be coordinated from the NATJOC. The NATJOINTS urges all registered voters to exercise their Constitutional and democratic right to vote and will ensure that they will be able to do so in a safe and secure environment conducive to a free and fair election.
"The security forces, ensuring your constitutional right to vote".
Enquiries:
Brigadier Sally de Beer
Cell: 082 779 8658
Colonel Vishnu Naidoo
Cell: 082 567 4153
