Johannesburg - The government says it will not tolerate any action aimed at disrupting Wednesday’s local elections.
Anyone who attempted to do so would face the full might of the law, it said on Saturday.
The warning comes after more than 20 candidate councillors, mostly from the ANC and KwaZulu-Natal, have been killed in the run-up to the polls.
Acting cabinet spokesperson Donald Liphoko said that while the country was making progress in ensuring that these elections were conducted in a peaceful environment, the “government has noted that there are still a few disgruntled elements focused on disrupting elections in our communities”.
Communities were encouraged to report any incidents of intimidation to the nearest police station.
The Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster had put measures in place to ensure the safety of voters during the elections.
“Police will be on duty at voting stations across the country. Officers will also undertake duties such as escorting IEC officials, undertaking patrols, securing ballot papers and protecting electoral staff.
“Government further commends the IEC and the country’s law enforcement officers for the swift and efficient manner in which they handled the recent incident where boxes containing ballot papers were stolen from a delivery vehicle in Soweto,” he said in statement.
The government also had full confidence in the IEC and that the elections would be free and fair.
It called on political parties to abide by the IEC code of conduct and to raise any breaches swiftly with the commission.
It encouraged all South Africans eligible to vote, particularly the youth, to come out in their numbers.
There is concern that there will be a low turnout of youngsters, who are unsure of who to vote for, especially in the urban areas. Also the youth are increasing disenchanted as the economic growth remains sluggish and there is very little job creation.
Group Labour Editor