Deployment of soldiers for elections is not unusual, says expert

With the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) set to tighten security and Eskom’s promise to deliver power and standby technicians ahead of the local municipal elections, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has assured the public that the voting process would go smoothly.

Soweto resident Khululile Mkhize said she would be exercising her right to vote on Monday.

“I took it upon myself to register to vote this year. It is my responsibility to vote for the change I want to see. As a first time voter, I believe that my vote is important and will make a difference,” she said.

Mkhize said deciding who to vote for would be difficult.

“I think this year’s elections are going to be tough because South African citizens are frustrated due to the lack of service delivery and some neighbourhoods not having electricity for months.

“However, I do think if everyone who is eligible to vote were to vote, instead of saying their vote won’t make a difference, then we, as South Africans, would start seeing change in the different wards,” she said.

Another resident from the south of Johannesburg, Phumla Dabula, said she was undecided about making her mark on Monday.

“I’m still on the fence about voting. I have two minds about whether voting is a worthwhile exercise in the sense that the ANC still gets away with murder.

“Even though we vote, it becomes a futile exercise because other parties are problematic as well, especially because the parties available are defectors of the ANC who are corrupt to the bone as well,” she said.

Head of justice and violence prevention at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Gareth Newham said the deployment of the defence force was not unusual. Though soldiers would not be visible at the voting stations, they would be there for backup.

“The government generally has a lot of planning around elections. They have been planning this for months; police have identified about 300 hotspots. Unlike the July violence, which they seemed to be unprepared for and which was unprecedented, the police and military have been doing joint planning. The intelligence systems work with a range of
different role players in order to minimise disruption,” he said.

Gordhan this week said there were special arrangements in place that would ensure smooth elections.

“From the information provided to us, it is clear that the elections process will not be disrupted by a lack of electricity supply,” Gordhan said.

“There will be 23 148 voting stations, 16 000 of these stations in areas that are supplied with electricity by Eskom, and the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) procured 14 000 [items] of lighting equipment for voting stations that are outside Eskom’s supply areas,” he said.

Gordhan added there would be technicians on standby.

The 16 000 [stations] have been divided by Eskom’s distribution division into a number of clusters across the country, where each of the clusters have, among other things, generators and technicians on standby to assist.

The IEC also has 240 data capturing sites where the counts from various stations are to be processed. Many of these operate from municipal complexes in different parts of the country and they each have their own generators as well.

“The scanners used at the voting stations were pre-charged with a 12-hour battery life,” Gordhan said.

Brigadier-General Mafi Mgobozi confirmed that up to 10 000 soldiers will be deployed across the country to support other law enforcement agencies.

– asandam@citizen.co.za