The Chief of the South African National Defence Force, Gen. Rudzani Maphwanya has been tasked and authorised to deploy various SANDF elements to render assistance to the police and other state departments in anticipation of the planned national shutdown protest marches across the country.
The SANDF elements will be deployed under “Operation PROSPER” as from March 17 to April 17, 2023. This will be controlled through the Provincial Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (PROVJOINTS) with direction and guidance by the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) accordingly pending the re-assessment of the situation.
The primary focus of the SANDF deployment will be to render protection of National Key Points under threat as per prevailing intelligence/information on hand per respective PROVJOINTS. Focus will also be on response to situations which go beyond the control of the law enforcement agencies in support to the police as determined by the respective PROVJOINTS.
It must be noted that the SANDF gets requested from time to time to assist the SAPS in crime prevention operations. This is executed in line with one of the government outcomes of making sure that all South Africans are and feel safe.
It is prudent to take note that the SANDF is governed by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. The deployment is in terms of Section 201(2) (a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, read with Section 19 of the Defence Act (Act 42 of 2002). The SANDF force elements will be deployed as may be required by the PROVJOINTS and NATJOINTS for the duration of the deployment period.
