Police Minister Bheki Cele says around 300 voting stations across the country have been identified as high-risk or hotspots ahead of the 1 November poll.

Cele was speaking during a briefing of Justice, Crime Prevention, and Security Cluster Ministers today.

He says the provinces of high concern, as identified by the National Joint Operations and Intelligence structure (Natjoints) and the Intelligence Coordinating Committee (ICC) are KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and Gauteng.

Cele says these structures have looked at a number of factors to rank areas as low, medium, and high risk including what has transpired during the country’s registration weekend in September as well as ongoing political violence.

“Like your Ward 101 in Ethekwini where the candidate has been shot, Mkhize; like in (Ward) 54 in Ethekwini again where those three aunties were shot; like your ward in Kwadukuza where the candidate was shot. Thank God, (the candidate) survived; like in Mabopane. So, that tells the police that you need to have a form of a high understanding and put it on alert.”

JCPS Cluster briefs the media on the state of readiness for 2021 Local Government Elections: