It has been over a month since President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed 2,200 soldiers to assist the police in the fight against crime, but the killings in gang-infested neighbourhoods are not relenting.
Ramaphosa ordered the deployment to prevent and combat crime and to support and preserve law and order under Operation Prosper, which is targeting illegal mining and gangsterism.
He said the deployment is expected to cost just over R823m.
“The deployed members of the SANDF will assist the South African Police Service to prevent and combat illegal mining and gangsterism in the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, North West and Western Cape,” said the Presidency on March 13.
But shootings, mass shootings and killings continue unabated. According to media reports, 50 people were killed in gang violence on the Cape Flats in the second week of April despite the deployment of the army to help the police.
While the term of the deployment ends next March, the first month has yielded little to no positive results.
There was mixed reaction when Ramaphosa’s announced his intention to deploy the army as a backup on crime fighting. While communities hoped the intervention might give them a reprieve from brazen crime, experts warned about its limitations as soldiers do not have a policing mandate and their deployment could only be a cosmetic intervention.
The deployment should be seen as the same strategy the government employs when faced with a damaging trend it cannot control — form a task team — basically putting a band-aid on a bullet wound.
In forming a task team, or deploying soldiers in this case, it gives the public an impression that the issue is being taken seriously. It is good for show, but it’s not as effective as people think.
Soldiers are not police and are not empowered to do police work. If there are raids at suspected criminal hubs, they can’t conduct the search. They are not permitted to. All they can do is go behind the police, with police officers taking the lead.
The problem is that there are not enough police for the soldiers to back up. As a result, all the soldiers can do is stand on the street for days on end.
It is high time that South Africa’s leaders address the main problem facing policing, and that is under resourcing.
If we don’t have enough police, it doesn’t matter how many soldiers are deployed, they can only stand on the street with a gun.
It is high time that South Africa’s leaders address the main problem facing policing ― under-resourcing.
The SAPS is facing a severe, long-term personnel crisis, characterised by a shortage of tens of thousands of officers, heavily burdened call centres and declining detection rates.
The Hawks, who investigate organised crime, gangsterism, economic crimes, corruption and other serious crimes, told parliament last June that they were operating at about half their approved staffing structure. Of 5,300 positions, only 2,000-odd were filled, resulting in a shortfall of 49.6%, which was affecting the workload.
For years, we’ve heard about the critical shortage of detectives, high caseloads, poor working conditions and diminishing experience. The R823m would have gone a long way in addressing these issues.
It can’t be right that almost a billion rand is spent on people to stand around on streets while real policing suffers.
The army deployment is now looking like a PR stunt ahead of what will be highly-contested local government elections.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.