By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Ministers in the security cluster have warned they will act against threats of unrest over the outcome of Wednesday’s elections and are ready to respond should violence flare up.
They were speaking at a briefing hours after former president and MK Party leader Jacob Zuma called for a halt to the process at a media briefing on the eve of the announcement of the election results.
Minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the cluster’s duty is to ensure law and order in the country.
“We have to treat everybody in accordance with the provisions of the law, there is nobody above the law and there is no peacetime hero. We must be clear about that. If you threaten or attempt to threaten the stability of the republic, the law will have to take its course. We will respond to any incidents.”
Ntshavheni urged all parties to abide by the code of conduct and raise their disputes with the proper mechanisms in terms of the Electoral Act.
The minister said all political parties signed the code of conduct which prescribes how they must conduct themselves in terms of speech and how to raise their grievances.
“The bottom line is that there is a law and it provides dispute-raising mechanisms including objections which are governed by electoral law.”
Police minister Bheki Cele said lessons were learnt during the July 2021 unrest and he had faith in the police to carry out their duties as prescribed.
“Our job is to enforce the law if you get out of line. We are not about to deviate from doing so. Anybody has a right, the constitution says so, they can march, protest in a prescribed manner to not be armed, not calling for war, not making threats against human beings and property.
“Another lesson we have learnt is that people that call for reaction get arrested, that’s why 63 of them have court-going cases. One of them has been sentenced to 12 years, which shows that judges and magistrates are serious about the matter.”
Cele reported that the president had also appointed a commission “which revealed a strengthening of units like public order policing, which has been done”.
“They also raised the strengthening of crime intelligence, which has been done. There are many operations which are done by the police before they happen, like the shooting of criminals in their base — that is intelligence work.
“Even the rumoured shutdown did not happen. It was not because of a change of heart but because of the work of law enforcement agencies,” he said.
Defence minister Thandi Modise said the security cluster has not directly engaged with the MK Party but called for calm before the election.
“We have also asked people not to do that which is not legal in this country.
“We have not gone out of our way to speak to the MK Party. We are appealing to all parties and individuals in South Africa, we all have the same rights under the constitution of this country. Not only to exercise that constitution but to respect everybody’s rights to exercise their own.” she said.
Ninety suspects were arrested across South Africa for alleged Electoral Act violations over the three days of voting last week, South African Police Service (SAPS) National Commissioner Fannie Masemola told the briefing.
Masemola said 130 cases had been registered over the three days of voting, with 43 cases registered and 33 people arrested during the two days of special voting from 27 to 28 May. On 29 May, 87 cases were registered and 57 people arrested.
Overall, 90 people were arrested with most getting bail, while 22 are still in jail.
Natjoints, which consists of the SAPS, the South African National Defence Force and the State Security Agency, is responsible for coordinating all security and law enforcement operations in South Africa. Before the elections, Natjoints had assured South Africans that it was taking all possible measures to prevent crime and disruptions during the elections.