South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has told Parliament that he has authorised the deployment of 10,000 soldiers to assist the police secure the country ahead of municipal elections set for 1 November, Parliament confirmed on Thursday.
According to the National Assembly, Ramaphosa told Parliament that the deployment of the soldiers, in partnership with the police, was meant to assure a safe and secure environment during the local polls vote.
Justice, crime prevention and security cluster ministers assured South Africans that next week’s polls would be safe and free, with Defence Minister Thandi Modise saying that the police would be deployed at all voting stations and result centres from 30 October to 1 November.
“All relevant security-aligned departments within the three spheres of government have worked tirelessly, in a continuous and coordinated manner, to ensure we deliver successful local government elections,” Modise said.
The minister said the security cluster had also identified hotspots for violence and would deploy police accordingly.
Her police colleague Bheki Cele said four provinces — KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Western Cape and Eastern Cape — were regarded as hotspots for violence ahead of the elections.
NM/jn/APA