Police in the Eastern Cape are operationally ready for the 2019 general elections.
That’s according to Eastern Cape provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga.
She said in a statement on Sunday that “the SAPS is ready to deploy sufficient members throughout the Province to ensure that the election process takes place peacefully at the 4 791 polling stations in the Province.”
A multi-stakeholder Joint Operations Centre had been established.
“Its main objective is to provide support to all role players towards the smooth running of the election process,” General Ntshinga said.
“I would like to assure members of the public that all safety and security measures have been put in place to create an environment for crime-free elections,” she added.
General Ntshinga said certain areas have been identified as hotspot areas and measures have been put in place to mitigate any potential threats in accordance with the threat assessment.
“We request members of the public not to take weapons of any kind to the polling stations and urge them to adhere to the instructions of the presiding officers at all times.
“I would like to emphasize that we will not tolerate any form of criminality, intimidation and disruptive behaviour, including drunkenness at the polling stations. We are aware of instigators in various parts of the Province and we will deal with them without fear or favour,” concluded Lt Gen Ntshinga.
Meanwhile, the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Fikile Xasa has called for tolerance over this period.
“Government calls for patience from all community members and will continue to attend to service delivery concerns even beyond elections,” Xasa said.
