As the local government elections on 4 November draw closer, it’s worth being clear about what election readiness means. The intelligence picture currently doesn’t support talk of widespread unrest. It’s more nuanced than that, and the realistic concern is disruption, which comes less from the election itself than from what can happen around it.
There are genuine pressures in the environment. South Africans are dealing with high living costs, unemployment, frustration over service delivery and political uncertainty. In particular areas, political tensions, community grievances or anti-immigrant sentiment need closer attention. Any one of these may amount to very little. When several come together around a local trigger, though, a situation can change quickly.
With 4 November also a public holiday, the day itself will look different for many people. The period around it is where readiness matters, and it should be approached with good information rather than fear. The useful question is less “Is South Africa at risk of election unrest?” and more “What is happening around us, and how could it affect the people, workplaces and services we depend on?”
A protest doesn’t have to reach your doorstep to affect you. A road closure two kilometres away can stop a shift from arriving at work. Activity at a taxi rank can disrupt how people get to and from their jobs. A demonstration outside a municipal building can change traffic flows through an entire precinct. And an unverified WhatsApp message can cause disruption before anything has happened.
In that environment, good information is one of the most important security tools there is. During periods of heightened risk, our intelligence team draws on information from our own operations, specialist partners, community structures, law enforcement and other verified sources. Our first job is to know about disruptions before they happen, then to establish what is actually going on, where it’s moving and whether it poses a genuine threat. Only then should anyone respond.
The same discipline applies to keeping people informed. Whether the message comes from an employer, a landlord or an estate manager, it should be factual, come from one agreed source and tell people what has been verified, whether it affects them and what they need to do. A message that says, “We are aware of protest activity on this road, the situation is being monitored, the property remains accessible through this entrance and we will update you if that changes,” does far better than a forwarded video and a round of speculation. And if nothing has changed, there’s no need to create alarm.
Businesses, landlords and property owners have a particular part to play. A site can be completely secure and still be unable to operate, so preparation has to look beyond the boundary as well as within it. Check that the basics work, from gates and lighting to cameras, alarms and access control. Know which roads staff and customers use, where the nearest transport nodes and gathering points are, and what the alternative route is if the normal entrance is blocked. The difficult decisions should be agreed now, not when people are already gathering outside. Who has the authority to close a site? When do trading hours change? How will staff get home if roads are closed? Answering these for the first time under pressure is how capable people end up making poor calls.
There is another side to readiness that people rarely see, and that is the work a security company does long before additional resources are needed. For me, it’s the difference between having a security service and having a security capability. You build the people, partnerships, equipment and intelligence beforehand, and you train when there isn’t a crisis. At Excellerate Services, that means specialist teams, K9 and aerial support, and the command and control to bring them together, positioned according to what the intelligence shows. How people are trained matters just as much. Our training goes well beyond equipment, working through realistic scenarios on escalation and the appropriate use of force, alongside first aid, because the aim is to prepare people to make the right decision under pressure.
None of this is specific to an election, and we aren’t suggesting disruption is inevitable. But when the environment changes, the response should be measured, not built while an incident is already unfolding. So prepare, but don’t panic. Know the risks around you, rely on verified information, agree your decision points, stay connected to your security provider and local structures, and carry on as normal.
By Adriaan Otto, Managing Director, Excellerate Services
