Acting Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia on Tuesday announced that the deployment of soldiers to crime-ridden communities will be extended to the Eastern Cape.
The announcement follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to deploy the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to Gauteng and the Western Cape to assist in combating organised crime and illegal mining.
Cachalia said the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), General Fannie Masemola, and the Chief of the SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya, met on Monday to finalise the deployment plan, which is set to begin within the next 10 days and will now include the Eastern Cape.
“I can confirm that the National Commissioner of SAPS, General Fannie Masemola, and the Chief of the SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya, met yesterday to finalise the deployment plan, which will begin within the next 10 days and include the Eastern Cape,” Cachalia said.
Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans General Bantu Holomisa confirmed that soldiers will be deployed in three provinces as announced by Ramaphosa.
Holomisa said troops will be sent to the Western Cape to combat gang-related crime, to Gauteng to tackle both gang violence and illegal mining, and to the Eastern Cape, although the specific focus in that province has not yet been detailed.
“I confirm that the department is seized with operational requirements to support stabilisation interventions in consultation with the security cluster. What I can assure you, honourable members, is that these thieves — their time is over. The honeymoon is over. You must allow law enforcement agencies to do their work,” Holomisa said.
Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) leader and Land Reform Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso said his party supported the deployment of the army to the three provinces.
“This is a clear message that there will be no surrender to the criminals,” said Nyhontso.
Yusuf Cassim, the DA’s shadow MEC for Community Safety in the Eastern Cape, welcomed the extension of the military deployment and called for sustained intervention in the Northern Areas of Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.
Cassim said the DA welcomed Cachalia’s confirmation that Ramaphosa had acceded to the party’s demand to expand the planned military deployment to include the Eastern Cape in support of SAPS in combating gangsterism.
“This follows sustained pressure from the DA and communities in Nelson Mandela Bay’s Northern Areas, who have long called for urgent national priority intervention to address the ongoing gang violence crisis,” Cassim said.
“Communities in the Northern Areas deserve more than a temporary intervention. They deserve lasting safety, functional law enforcement, and a government that treats their lives as a national priority.”
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