A police nyala outside a voting station in Juju Valley. The area is among 24 high-risk voting stations in Limpopo. (Ntwaagae Seleka/News24)
- Out of the 3 270 voting stations in Limpopo, 24 are identified as high-risk stations and 157 are medium-risk.
- Juju Valley is considered a hotspot and provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, conducted a site visit to a voting station in the area.
- Find everything you need to know about the 2024 general elections on News24’s Elections Hub.
Limpopo police commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, conducted a site visit to the voting station at Spirit Wind International Ministries in Juju Valley on Wednesday morning – one of the 24 high-risk stations in the province – where voters are predominantly EFF supporters.
Juju Valley itself is considered a hotspot area, according to the commissioner.
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On Tuesday, an EFF member was arrested in the area in connection with an assault case, the commissioner said, stressing that the police weren’t targeting supporters of specific parties.
“Regardless of whether you are [an] ANC or EFF [supporter], we will arrest you. We are not doing politics, but policing.”
It was in the same suburb two weeks ago that members of ANC and EFF clashed during their political campaigns, injuring a 25-year-old man and a nine-year-old girl.
The girl, who sustained a bullet wound to the head, is still in hospital after undergoing surgery.
On Wednesday morning, several police officers could be seen outside the Spirit Wind Ministries voting station and police in a helicopter were keeping a watchful eye from above.
Hadebe was satisfied that processes were running smoothly so far.
He said:
Elections are going without glitches. The only glitches we are picking up are the systems that are affected by the network. [The Electoral Commission of SA] has dealt with that, and voting continues. That doesn’t impede anyone who votes.
“We are in Juju Valley, which is among our hotspots. We are [keeping] an eagle eye on Juju Valley and Seshego. We have deployed drones to see all our hotspot areas. We have also deployed members accordingly,” he added.
Of the 3 270 voting stations in Limpopo, there are also 157 medium-risk voting stations.
According to Hadebe, police have not arrested anyone in connection with the nine-year-old girl’s shooting. They are collecting evidence that still has to be processed, he said.
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“The results thereof will give us the direction,” he added.
“We want the person who recorded the incident at Juju Valley to come forward. We have confiscated some firearms from some people. We can’t name them because they haven’t been charged.
“We have obtained warning statements from some people of interest. Once our case is ready for the court, we will make arrests,” he said.
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