About 100,000 SAPS members will be deployed to polling stations across the country on Wednesday next week as political violence escalates ahead of the local government elections.At least 15 people have already been killed in violence allegedly linked to the polls, Police Minister Nathi Nhleko said yesterday.Most of the deaths were apparently due to ANC infighting, although supporters of the IFP and EFF were also targeted, he said.Nhleko told media in Cape Town that it was hard to say whether the deaths were political killings, but that was the assumption of a police task team set up to deal with the matter at this stage.The vast majority of the more than 30 criminal cases being linked to the elections are being investigated in KwaZulu-Natal, though Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape also reported cases.Almost 100,000 policemen and women will be deployed on election day to maintain order, Nhleko announced.About 50,000 will be manning election stations, and the rest will be mobile, ready to be moved to hot spots as political violence sparks .Of the country's 22,612 polling stations, 20,634 are considered low risk, 1,328 as medium risk and 650 as high risk."We are committed to ensuring peaceful elections," Nhleko said.The SAPS has formed a political crime task team as the country prepares for elections expected to be the most closely contested since the dawn of democracy in 1994.The violence task team consists of police members and members of the Hawks, and the National Prosecuting Authority. It has been roped in to ensure that justice is swiftly served, so as to reduce tensions in trouble-affected communities.Nhleko said election day would be peaceful, and called on political parties to instil discipline in their members."We have identified hot spots, and will be prepared to ensure a peaceful election," the police minister said...