JOHANNESBURG - The army's deployment in KwaZulu-Natal came after repeated requests from residents and the political leadership of eThekwini.
Those were the words from President Cyril Ramaphosa, insisting that the army was not going to replace police but rather to be a supportive element to the work they do.
Ramaphosa approved the deployment of over 500 troops to the metro to assist police with law enforcement operations under Operation Prosper until the end of November.
“We've had challenges which our people wanted us to address, and they felt that the best way to do so is to bring in the army to support the police.
“We've deployed the army in many other places in our country and that is yielding really good results for us."