Zille wants the SANDF to help fight gangs

In a statement issued on Monday Zille said she would table the proposal at the next sitting of the Western Cape cabinet.

She also indicated that she will discuss this with the police in the province before approaching national ministers. Zille said under-resourcing of the SAPS is one of the biggest reasons for the "safety crisis'' in the province. In order to address this‚ assistance from national government is required.

"In short this means that Defence Force members can be deployed as force multipliers to assist the police and 'blanket' an area to crack down on drugs and crime. Of course‚ this must be done in the context of commitment to co-operative governance‚'' said Zille.

"We will have to discuss the proposal in detail in the Western Cape cabinet‚ as a precursor to discussions with the Provincial Police Command‚ as a prelude to approaching the relevant national ministers. We will have to make a strong evidence-based case of the extent of the crisis in certain areas‚ while avoiding‚ at all costs‚ an exercise in political point scoring.”

She made reference to sections in the Defence Act which allows for this intervention.

“We owe it to the people living in these unbearable circumstances to use every constitutional lever we can to help resolve the daily problems they face.”

Zille has made similar proposals in the past but this was turned down.

Gang violence has exploded in several areas in recent months.

In Cape Town alone 66 children have been murdered since the beginning of the year. According to the director of the Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture‚ Valdi van Reenen-Le Roux‚ there is a correlation between the violence and child murders. Her organisation‚ along with other NGOs‚ compiled the list of slain children.

"The majority on the list are boy children who have been killed through gang-related violence‚'' said Van Reenen-Le Roux.