SA Army soldiers moved into a number of southern Johannesburg suburbs on Wednesday – the first visible show of force in the wake of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s February State of the Nation Address (SONA) where he pledged to “rid” South Africa of gang violence using the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) to support police.
In addition to curbing gang violence and turf wars in Gauteng, illegal mining is listed as the other major target of the year-long deployment. Yesterday’s arrival of a reported around 25 SA Army Mamba troop carriers, Max 3 armoured personnel carriers, and Samil trucks in Eldorado Park, Riverlea, Sophiatown and Westbury will boost police efforts to curb illegal mining at abandoned and disused gold mines between Johannesburg’s southern suburbs and Soweto. It is expected police and soldiers will – in due course – move to the province’s West and Far West Rand areas where illegal mining and violence has raised its unwanted head in areas such as Bekkersdal (Westonaria) and Sporong, an informal settlement in Randfontein.
Social and other digital and print media as well as television news channels reported at least two arrests in Newlands while police and soldiers with unofficial child escorts were filmed by television crews in Eldorado Park, where one resident told a Daily Maverick reporter the soldiers “must stay because we fear the violence will escalate”. This was echoed by a Riverlea resident who called the police “useless” appealing for soldiers to remain in the area permanently. There was by early Thursday no official reaction to the deployment from either the SANDF or SAPS.
GroundUp reported that people lined the streets and cheered as a large convoy of soldiers moved through the three Johannesburg communities on Wednesday. The convoy of soldiers in armoured vehicles alongside military police and the SAPS anti-gang unit, started in Eldorado Park and moved north through Riverlea and Westbury. Sometimes the convoy halted and soldiers conducted foot patrols.
Riverlea resident Renée Swartz told GroundUp, “This is long overdue. I’m hoping that they can help bring some peace to our streets and stop the shooting and killing.”
In Westbury, a woman shouted “Hallelujah!” as the convoy passed. A group of children returning from school cried out in unison, “No more shooting.”
Westbury resident Yusuf Nicholson said the government also needs to tackle the underlying issues that feed gang culture.
“Just look around and see all the unemployed youth. No one is working here, so the only job they can get is to join the gangs. I’m happy to see the Army here but I’m sad that it has come to this,” said Nicholson.
The Gauteng component of the latest Operation Prosper deployment sees 550 soldiers deployed until 30 April at a cost of R80 736 135 as per a Presidential letter to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza. This is higher than the “more than 450” given by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi during his State of the Province Address (SOPA) on 23 February, 11 days after Cyril Ramaphosa told the nation he was approving a joint SANDF/SAPS deployment, without giving personnel numbers and costs.
There is, as yet, no indication of personnel numbers and when as well as the cost of the Eastern and Western Cape provinces Prosper deployment. These were identified by Ramaphosa as areas where police and soldiers will co-operate and collaborate in efforts to put an end to gang violence. It is believed the Cape Town deployment has been delayed due to a lack of coordination between the SAPS and SANDF, and a mix-up with some joint training.
Another development around the deployment comes from Parliament where a third voice joined the chorus of public representatives calling for, among others, accountability and “proper co-ordination” for the Presidentially sanctioned year-long co-deployment of police and soldiers. The deployment is done in terms of a standing SANDF tasking Operation Prosper authorising soldiers and other uniformed military personnel to support government departments and entities in safety and security operations.
The newest addition to a list which includes Phiroane Phala, co-chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD), and Portfolio Committee on Police (PCoP) chair, Ian Cameron, is National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Member of Parliament (MP) Nicholas Gotsell.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Western Cape public representative, in addition to sitting on the NCOP Select Committee on Security and Justice (SCSJ) is also a JSCD member, supports the fixed term deployment of police and soldiers to tackle gang violence on the Cape Flats with conditions.
These include, as per a statement, a clear strategy, defined roles and proper co-ordination between the two institutions – the SANDF and SAPS – tasked to take on gang violence in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces as well as illegal mining in Gauteng.
His statement, issued after briefings on the joint anti-crime deployment to the JSCD and PCoP, notes both raised “serious concerns”.
“Weeks after the President announced the deployment, oversight committees have still not been presented with a clear strategic framework explaining how the operation will function, who will command it and how its success will be measured,” it reads in part going on to name concerns raised specifically as regards training soldiers for civilian policing operations.
“Parliament was assured the necessary training was already underway. However, after probing questions by the DA, these assurances were contradicted over the weekend when the Acting Minister of Police [Firoz Cachalia] acknowledged that the deployment would have to be delayed due to insufficient training and planning. This contradiction highlights exactly why Parliament’s oversight of this deployment is so critical.
“Police and soldiers operate under very different mandates and training environments. The SAPS enforces the law in civilian spaces and builds cases for prosecution, while the SANDF is trained for combat operations. Without proper planning, training and co-ordination, joint deployments risk confusion and operational failure.
“It also appears that the deployment is being approached in the same way for both gang violence and illegal mining operations, despite these being two very different criminal environments.
“Gang networks on the Cape Flats and illegal mining syndicates elsewhere in the country operate in fundamentally different ways.
“Illegal mining operations are often centred round controlling abandoned mines, whereas gang violence on the Cape Flats is a fluid, community-centric insurgency. These are fundamentally different challenges that require different strategies. A one-size-fits-all approach will not work.
“Gang violence on the Cape Flats requires a focused, intelligence-driven intervention tailored to the realities of organised criminal networks operating in these communities,” the statement has Gotsell saying.
Senior management of both General Fannie Masemola’s SAPS and General Rudzani Maphwanya’s SANDF can expect more incisive questions from the Parliamentary oversight committees charged with security and defence in the coming months. This is emphasised in the Gotsell statement with a call for a centralised and regular joint reporting mechanism to ensure SAPS and SANDF leadership account to Parliament on co-ordination, progress and outcomes.
