Pretoria - The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) has thanked South Africans for conducting themselves peacefully and lawfully over the election period.
National Police Commissioner General Riah Phiyega on Friday expressed her appreciation for the hard work and professional conduct of the security forces and other role players.
Several months of intensive planning made it possible for a comprehensive security plan to be put in place, which saw deployments of security forces to certain areas in the country months prior to the general election on 7 May 2014.
During the 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 elections.
On Wednesday, a number of election-related cases were registered at police stations throughout the country. More than half of these related to contraventions of the Electoral Act.
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,” said police spokesperson Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale.
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.
According to NATJOINTS, deployments throughout the country remain in place during the 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,” Makgale said. – SAnews.gov.za
