ZIYANDA ZWENI
SA Police Service commissioner Fannie Masemola says the police are ready to hit the ground running come election day to ensure there are no disruptions as millions cast their votes on November 4.
Masemola was speaking on the sidelines of the festive season safety launch at the Rotary Stadium in Mthatha on Friday, adding that additional police officers would be deployed.
"Preparation has been done for the elections and all police members will be deployed in all provinces.
"We do have [some] hotspots, for example in the Western Cape and some areas in this province, KZN, and Gauteng.
"We have seen, experienced some killings of some councillors and members of political parties, but we have deployed [police] to stabilise the areas and with the build-up, we're going to deploy more members.
"We are ready for the elections, to make sure the climate will be conducive for people to go out and exercise their right vote," Masemola said.
He said the SAPS would continue to ensure that any possible protests were conducted within the ambit of the law.
A total of 138 new police vans were handed over during the launch.
Meanwhile, Eastern Cape provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Vuyisile Ncata will be stationed in the OR Tambo district where in the past there have been protests over service delivery grievances.
"We are going to protect our people, we are going to try to be everywhere and try to cover every corner of our province.
"We call upon the community also to assist us to report crime, and those who don't report are basically assisting those who are committing the crimes because we want to ensure that people who do crime go to where they deserve to stay."
Ncata said in the current financial year, more than 315 vehicles would be distributed to strengthen police resources and enhance operational capacity.
"Our people are crying. They want more vehicles, they want more visibility. We are enhancing that.
"I've also signed overtimes so that we can have additional members who are going to work longer hours but they're going to be paid, so that we can try and cover many areas.
"These are the efforts of the Eastern Cape SAPS, together with all the stakeholders, to ensure we create a safe and secure environment here.
"There are so many operations we are involved in and all we want to do is to enhance them so that our people, come January 1, are safe.
"We're also preparing ourselves for the elections.
"We need to deliver free and fair elections without any disruptions.
"Last elections, there were challenge's here, [and as such] the provincial commissioner took a decision that I will be here [OR Tambo district] for the whole day.
"Our chopper is ready so that we can also be able to have an aerial view."