A total of 17000 police officers will be deployed in KwaZulu-Natal when South Africans head to the polls in May.

“One of the tasks you gave us is to prevent, investigate and combat
crime and most importantly, to enforce the law. If you violate the law, if you
break the law, ours is to enforce,” said provincial police commissioner
Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on Wednesday.

He said the SA Police Service and security cluster as a whole in
KwaZulu-Natal were planning to deploy “no less than 17 000 law enforcement officers
to police these elections.”

Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi was speaking at an Independent Electoral Commission event
where political leaders signed the code of conduct and pledged to ensure a
democratic and peaceful general election, free from any form of violence,

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said more than 20000 people died “as
a result of internecine political violence in KwaZulu-Natal, from the late
1980s to way beyond the democratic moment in 1994.”

“We have made major strides in establishing peace and tolerance as a way of
life in our province. As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of our democratic
breakthrough, we commend the maturity displayed by various political parties
through the signing of this pledge.”

“Unlike most of our sister provinces, we know the brutality of political
intolerance and the social devastation that this wreaks on our people.
Therefore, this commitment by political parties is much more than just
appending signatures to a pledge, but a solemn promise to our people that they
will not allow the elections to take us back to the days of instability,” she
said.

Nomusa Dube-Ncube said peace and development could not be achieved in the
absence of the other.

“Therefore, all of us have the responsibility to strive for peace, stability
and tolerance, even beyond the elections so that our province can continue on
its upward and forward growth trajectory,” she said.

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