The IEC in the Western Cape says it is committed to working closely and consistently with community structures such as Community Policing Forums, police, and law enforcement agencies ahead of the Local Government Elections. This comes against a backdrop of rampant gang and gun violence in the province. The commission held an Electoral Safety Stakeholder workshop in Cape Town, aimed at fostering collaboration and to secure electoral safety leading up to and after the November polls. An exercise aimed at thrashing out safety concerns, challenges,
and areas of opportunity to mitigate risk which could end the electoral process. The commission says any criminal activity is a threat to free and fair elections, which in turn threatens the country’s democracy. “Our people don’t only operate on election day. They are operating now already in our communities, whether it’s going to a voting station, contract, outreach, etc., criminal activity and in our province, we are talking particularly about the gang-related crime and that is completely unacceptable. We had a seminar last year
around the issue of the impact of violent crime on our people’s ability to participate and willingness because if you are dodging bullets that’s the last thing on your mind, to say I must now go and vote because you are more worried about the safety of your kids, your home and loved ones,” Michael Hendrickse, Western Cape Provincial Electoral Officer. Some of the country’s top police stations for murder and violent crime are situated in the province, particularly in the Cape Metro. Community structures
have raised a host of issues, which they worry may negatively impact people from exercising their democratic right on election day. “In these areas I’m talking about, you will find there are no streetlights. There is no access road between the shacks. So, it makes things difficult and at some point, people may not be able to cast their votes because of those challenges that are being faced by them in terms of infrastructure. Secondly, I want to understand if law enforcement is ready next
time round in terms of escorting because in 2024. There were lots of delays in terms of home visits that had to be done by IEC staff, escorted by law enforcement agencies where they would be told they must wait we are busy somewhere,” says Dumisani Qwabe, Nyanga Community Policing Forum. “The class of 2026, that is the youth of today, which are between 18 and 35 years old. They are subjected to gangsterism and shooting and stone-throwing and that is to be initiated into
gangsterism. Now, we want to know how is the IEC going to assist, for example, if you are from one voting station and you stay on, let’s say Tiberius court, and you must vote at the Christ Gospel cChurch in Surren Road. Now, you must cross enemy territory, as they put it, to go and vote. So, we are going to have a lot of youth that won’t be able to vote, because of the hostility between the two groups and that is right across
Hanover Park,” says Gary Hartzenberg, Phillipi Community Policing Forum, Deputy Chairperson. This year’s polls will take place amid what appear to be an escalation in gang violence and the deployment of the SANDF to various crime-infested communities “We are very concerned about what’s happening and the violence that is escalating, particularly as you say against the foreign nationals and also just the gang violence that is always ravaging the Western Cape,” Nomfundo Walaza, Electoral Code of Conduct Observer Commission. The commission, meanwhile, says it is
prepared for the upcoming voter registration weekend later this month. As at May 2026, there were some 3,289,000 registered voters in the province. “We have secured all our voting stations for that. Obviously, we are monitoring our access, because, in some of our areas such as Cederberg or outside Oudtshoorn, roads are being washed away. So, we are monitoring whether those stations are still accessible, and if not, we will put in alternative arrangements in that. We have been recruiting our registration staff. There will
be two members per station and we have been training them as well, also our voter management devices have been delivered and been upgraded. We checked the batteries even. So, yes, we are fairly confident of delivering and being able to run our registration weekend on the 20th and 21st of June,” says Michael Hendrickse, Western Cape Provincial Electoral Officer. The commission says this workshop forms part of ongoing engagements with various sectors of society with the goal of delivering safe and credible elections.
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