About 100 000 police force members will be deployed to polling stations across the country next Wednesday as political violence escalates.
At least 15 people have already been killed in violence allegedly linked to next week’s local government elections, Police Minister Nathi Nhleko announced yesterday.
Most of the deaths were apparently due to ANC infighting, although supporters of the IFP and EFF were also targeted.
Nhleko told the parliamentary press corps in Cape Town that it was hard to say whether the deaths were indeed political killings, but at this stage, that was the assumption of a police task team set up to deal with the matter.
The vast majority of the more than 30 criminal cases being linked to the elections were being investigated in KwaZulu-Natal, although Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape also reported cases.
Almost 100 000 police will be deployed next Wednesday on election day to maintain order, Nhleko announced.
Of these, about 50 000 will be static, manning election stations, and the rest will be mobile, ready to be moved to hotspots as they happen.
Police ready for election day
At least 15 people have already been killed in violence allegedly linked to next week’s local government elections, Police Minister Nathi Nhleko announced yesterday.
Most of the deaths were apparently due to ANC infighting, although supporters of the IFP and EFF were also targeted.
Nhleko told the parliamentary press corps in Cape Town that it was hard to say whether the deaths were indeed political killings, but at this stage, that was the assumption of a police task team set up to deal with the matter.
The vast majority of the more than 30 criminal cases being linked to the elections were being investigated in KwaZulu-Natal, although Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape also reported cases.
Almost 100 000 police will be deployed next Wednesday on election day to maintain order, Nhleko announced.
Of these, about 50 000 will be static, manning election stations, and the rest will be mobile, ready to be moved to hotspots as they happen.
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