Police have opened cases of intimidation after a large group of people tried to get access to a warehouse in Booysens in Johannesburg where election ballot boxes are stored.
National police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, said SAPS responded to an incident on Tuesday where a group, numbering between 20 and 40, "presented themselves" at the warehouse and demanded to gain entry.
She said they had made several demands, that included gaining access to the ballot papers, to check if they had been counted.
"For now, we don't have arrests. We have been taking witness statements and have launched a manhunt for these individuals," she told Moneyweb.
She said that SAPS was aware that the incident was "coordinated from elsewhere", but said SAPS was still trying to "establish those facts" and what the motive was.
"We are trying to establish their identities, if they are affiliated to any party and so on," Mathe said.
She said that the police will sit down with the IEC to assess the security situation, adding that the country was still in the "third election phase" that included Wednesday's inauguration of President Cyril Ramaphosa, and upcoming State of the Nation address.
"Deployments remain in place."
The IEC said the group allegedly tried to interfere with the handling of the ballot boxes, and followed a truck used to transport the material back to the provincial warehouse.
On arrival at the warehouse the suspects tried to forcefully gain entry into the warehouse.
The IEC is required by law to keep the ballots following an election for six months.
