National Prosecuting Authority Gauteng division spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the charges relate to Standard Bank’s Social Corporate Investment Programme, which Masuku allegedly used to award bursaries to family and friends.

“The alleged offenses were committed during her tenure as Head of Standard Bank’s Social Corporate Investments Programme, prior to her appointment at the IEC. She allegedly transferred a sum of R800,000 to a second individual implicated in the case.”

“Furthermore,the state alleges that she illicitly awarded bursaries worth R400 000 to ineligible recipients, including family members and friends,” said Mjonondwane.

The matter was adjourned to 4 September to allow the state sufficient time to apprehend the outstanding suspect.

“The accused was released on R20000 bail,” said Mjonondwane.

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Addressing the media in Durban, Hlomuka said all 4974 voting stations in the province will be closely monitored.

“The fact that three major political parties had their manifesto launches here in KwaZulu-Natal tells you that the province will be the hive of political activities. We have also observed some sporadic incidents of violent public protests and we caution our people not to deprive others of their constitutional rights to vote by barricading roads and destroying properties.”

“Areas such as the R74 in Muden, where a truck was torched last week Friday, will be given more attention.”

“Areas such as KwaNongoma, which are known for political intolerance, will receive maximum attention. This is one area that has of late been experiencing the killing of councillors and it is one of the declared hotspot areas. Our conclusion is that KwaNongoma and other parts of Zululand still want to categorise themselves as no-go zones and we must resist any attempts that will take us back,” he said.

Hlomuka said the plan included:

• Additional deployments in hotspot areas
• Deployment of police in all voting districts
• Deployment of more than 17000 police and other security personnel.
• Deployment of 1008 social crime prevention volunteers from the department of community safety and liaison.
• Ensure effective monitoring of all voting stations.
• Placing roving teams on high alert to respond to emergency cases.
• Setting up special courts to deal with cases speedily.
• Activate political parties through the Multi-Party-Political Intervention Committee to respond to threats and possible incidents of instability.

“Judging by the information at our disposal and the comprehensive plan that has been developed by this multi-disciplinary team of various agencies, we can safely say as the province we are ready to deliver peaceful, free, and fair elections,” said Hlomuka.

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Further impetus to the free and fair aspect of voting day comes from the African Union Commission (AUC) which will deploy an observation mission to South Africa. The 60-strong mission will be led by former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and will touch down in South Africa eight days ahead of the 29 May polling date. The AUC mission will exit South Africa on 3 June.

Post an oversight visit to the IEC, presumably at its Centurion headquarters, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affair (PCHA) said it was “confident” the processes in place would see to it the election for national and provincial publicly elected representatives lived up to the “free and fair” reputation.

“The interactions held reaffirmed the confidence the committee has in the IEC as a prime institution that is capable of delivering on its constitutional mandate. The processes in place, the technological advances and training undertaken are testament to the credibility of the institution to run these elections,” committee chair Mosa Chabane is reported as saying in a Parliamentary Communication Service statement.

While at the IEC the committee saw demonstrations of voter management devices and is confident they will “enhance” voting.

Nocks Seabi, Portfolio Committee on Police (PCP) chair, is reported as saying co-ordinated and intelligence-led planning and operations are in place to secure the 2024 provincial and national elections. The plan covers before, during, and after elections. His comments come in a statement issued after the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster briefing led by Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise.

“It is important that operations are intelligence led to ensure threats are dealt with swiftly. Also of importance is collaboration with communities through the sharing of information to enable the security agencies to respond timeously,” he is reported as saying.

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