JOHANNESBURG - South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops have arrived in the Western Cape on Wednesday.
Over 2,200 soldiers have been deployed to patrol crime ridden areas in the Western Cape, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Free State and North West. The deployment which forms part of Operation Prosper will run until March 2027.
Troops are expected on the streets from Wednesday across the five provinces, after President Cyril Ramaphosa gave the green light.
Western Cape deputy police commissioner Luyanda Damoyi said the SANDF members were fully equipped to deal with gangsterism, extortion and taxi violence in the province.
Without disclosing the number of troops deployed on the ground in the province, Damoyi said the troops were sufficient to achieve the province’s crime fighting mission.
“They will be on the ground for seven days a week. There might be a break here and there because we will be looking at our crime patterns and deploy as such. It might not serve the purpose to have soldiers on the ground around the clock, we look at critical times.”
Damoyi said the SANDF members have been urged to conduct themselves in a professional manner and serve with humility.
Meanwhile, residents in Eldorado Park who are also awaiting the SANDF deployment said they want more than just a show of force.
"You get robbed here..there's drugs here also. All I am asking, please, as a mother, bring the army back because we are not safe with Saps here in Elderado Park, they are useless,” said Mercedes Delport, a resident in the area,
Chenelle George, an activist said the very weekend when the soldiers left there was a mass shooting where six people were gunned down.
"The past weekend there was another shooting just here behind the garage where a 17 year old boy lost his life. So we need them as in yesterday, urgently, and we need them to be here 24/7. There should just be a drive through or where they are stationed at a particular area. We need them 24/7 patrolling the streets because as we have seen the shootings don't only happen at night anytime is tea time for these shooters here.”