Soldiers deployed to combat crime in South Africa

A total of 550 personnel of the national defense force have been employed under ‘Operation Prosper – illegal mining,’ President Cyril Ramaphosa has said

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially notified parliament of the deployment of personnel of the National Defense Force (SANDF) to assist the police in combating illegal mining in Gauteng Province.

The deployment, aimed at preserving law and order, comes as part of Operation Prosper and will involve over 500 soldiers at a cost of approximately R80 million. Ramaphosa’s announcement was disclosed in a letter dated March 5, addressed to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza.

”This serves to inform the Speaker of the National Assembly that I have employed 550 members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) for service in cooperation with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to prevent and combat crime and maintain and preserve law and order within Gauteng province under Operation Proper-illegal mining.”

Ramaphosa said the deployment is scheduled to last from January 30 until the end of April. ”The expenditure expected to be incurred for this employment amounts to R80 736 135.00,” he said.

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The Joint Standing Committee on Defence is scheduled to consider Ramaphosa’s letter at its upcoming meeting on Friday.

In November 2024, Ramaphosa had previously extended the deployment of SANDF under a similar initiative across various provinces, including Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West, Free State, and Northern Cape, at an increased cost of R140 million.

A notable deployment of 2300 soldiers was authorised for the period spanning April 2024 until October 2024, amounting to R349 million after the expiry of the deployment at the end of March 2024. The letter comes days after Parliament heard that the Department of Defence has requested more than R800m for the deployment of the soldiers.

Acting Secretary of Defence Thobekile Gamede said on Friday Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant-General Siphiwe Sangweni has submitted a budget of R823m.

Whereas Ramaphosa stated in his State of the Nation Address in February that the deployment would be in Gauteng and the Western Cape, and the Eastern Cape added the following day, Parliament has heard that Free State and North West were included in the deployment.

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Gamede said the deployment was not funded for now and the department would use its available resources. However, he said the National Treasury was expected to allocate additional funds in the Adjustment Budget later in the year.

Meanwhile, Police Portfolio Committee chairperson Ian Cameron has raised serious concern about delays on the part of the defence and police senior management in presenting a cogent and coherent operational plan for the deployment of soldiers to hotspot areas affected by gang violence and illegal mining.

”The lack of planning, uncertainty and silo mentality has been evident in the pre-deployment phase since the announcement made by the President during the 2026 State of the Nation Address. A presidential directive cannot be handled with such lethargy and apparent disinterest,” Cameron said.

While the DA supported the fixed term deployment of the SANDF to assist the police in tackling gang violence on the Cape Flats, the party’s MP Nicholas Gotsell said the intervention cannot proceed without a clear strategy, defined roles and proper coordination between the two departments.

Gotsell said the deployment was being approached in the same way for both gang violence and illegal mining operations, despite these being two very different criminal environments. According to him, illegal mining operations were often centred around controlling abandoned mines while gang violence on the Cape Flats was community-centric insurgency.

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”A one-size-fits-all approach will not work. Gang violence on the Cape Flats requires a focused, intelligence-driven intervention tailored to the realities of organised criminal networks operating in these communities,” he said, adding that communities plagued by gang violence deserved a response that was targeted, disciplined, and effective, and not one improvised on the fly.

First published by IOL