SAPS says army deployment is progressing well

National police commissioner, General Fannie Masemola said that the deployment of the South African National Defence Force alongside members of the South African Police Service has already yielded positive results.

“The initial deployment in parts of the country has commenced and is progressing well. You might have seen that there have been deployments in Gauteng and ten people have been arrested and lots of illegal mining equipment has been confiscated,” he said.

The announcement was made during a media briefing hosted by the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints) at its coordination centre in Pretoria on Sunday.

More than 2,000 SANDF members will be deployed across the country over a period of 13 months to assist police in stabilising communities affected by high levels of crime. The deployment will, according to Masemola, focus on sophisticated illicit mining groups operating in Gauteng, Free State, and Northwest. Gang-related violence will be targeted in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng.

The deployment forms part of Operation Prosper, which is a coordinated national intervention directed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to strengthen the fight against crime and enhance cooperation within the security cluster.

Chief of the SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya, said the country has seen too many lives lost to criminality and that the joint operation would give criminal elements “no quarter”.

Soldiers on patrol in Riverlea on Wednesday, 11 March. Photo: GroundUp/Ihsaan Haffejee

Gangsters paradise

Elitsha has previously reported on violence between rival zama-zama groups in the West Rand in Gauteng. Community leaders were calling for the deployment of army even then.

Speaking to Elitsha, Bernice Joubert, a member of the Community Policing Forum in Langlaagte, which serves the townships of Riverlea and Bosmont and Zamimpilo informal settlement, said that they welcome the deployment of the army and they would like the police and the members of the SANDF to go into the shafts and get the zama-zamas out.

“We need them to go into the shafts and get them out of the shafts, because it’s so dangerous, our area is on the brink of collapsing,” she said.

Joubert was quick to point out that the detective services at the police station will not have the capacity to investigate the high number of cases that would come with a higher number of arrests.

“We don’t even have enough manpower for number one. There are not enough vehicles for number two. So if we cannot get it right now, how are we going to get it right with the army here?” Joubert asked.

Mark Kayter, the chairperson of the Riverlea Mining Forum, called for the members of Operation Prosper to be more visible.

Illegal mining perforates the land around old gold mines in Gauteng and Free State.

“We’ve only seen them here once in our community, and we haven’t seen them again. What they should be doing is setting a base. And the zama-zamas, their argument is for turf, because the area is quite small , so we have different factions coming in. And then there’s the turf wars for control of the cake,” Kayter said.

Authorities say the deployment comes as the country faces complex organised crime challenges. These include illegal mining operations, gang violence, drug trafficking, extortion, and the proliferation of illegal firearms.

The stated objectives of the joint deployment under Operation Prosper are:

Stabilising priority crime hotspots where organised criminal networks have entrenched themselves;

Disrupting and dismantling syndicates, including those involved in illicit mining and gang violence;

Restoring law, order and peace in affected communities;

Reclaiming territory that has been controlled or influenced by criminal networks and firmly reasserting the authority of the state; and

Reducing serious and violent crime levels through sustained enforcement and intelligence-driven operations.