The deployment of the South African Defence Force (SANDF) to the Cape Flats has not given the desired results, as 36 people died between 30 March and 5 April, says Ian Cameron, National Assembly Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, adding that the response to violence cannot only just be about visibility.
“I was in Mitchells Plain again today. Four people were shot dead and five others were injured. A six-year-old girl, and two boys aged 13 and 14 years, are in hospital. These children should have been enjoying a carefree school holiday. Instead, they are lying in hospital because gang violence continues to tear through these communities,” says Cameron.
47 cases of attempted murder
According to Cameron, in addition to the 36 deaths, 47 cases of attempted murder were also opened. “That means 36 funerals now have to be arranged. It means more families getting phone calls no family should ever have to get. It means more children growing up with gunfire as part of everyday life. That is why the response cannot just be about visibility. It has to be intelligence-led and prosecution-led. It is not enough to put more boots on the ground and hope for the best. Operations must target the right people, the right places, and the networks behind the violence. And when arrests are made, the cases must be strong enough to stand up in court,” says Cameron.
He further says what should be a concern to all is that so far very few arrests have been made and hardly any major drug or arms cases have been uncovered.
One week
Nicholas Gotsell, a DA member of the provincial parliament, also criticizes the deployment of the SANDF. “As gang-ridden communities mark one week since the deployment of the SANDF to the Cape Flats, it is becoming increasingly clear that this deployment began without a credible operational plan, without measurable goals and without the full mobilisation of resources promised to parliament and communities,” says Gotsell.
Gotsell says nine people were shot in Mitchell’s Plain. “Four people died whilst three children aged six, 13 and 14 were injured in a brazen attack at the Hazeldene Taxi Rank, another young man was killed in Merrydale. These shootings occurred despite the presence of soldiers in the area and underscore the reality that the deployment is not intelligence-driven and is not covering large parts of ganglands simultaneously,” he says.
The Cape Crime Crisis Coalition (C4), a non-profit organisation looking at ways to curb gangsterism and crime, recently also opposed the army deployment. “C4 has consistently and unequivocally opposed deploying the SANDF to combat gangs on the Cape Flats. We maintain that military intervention is not a solution to entrenched gang violence – it represents an abdication of strategic responsibility, an acknowledgment of institutional weaknesses, and a preference for theatrical optics over substantive action,” reads a release from C4. “Nevertheless, we are realists. The presidential announcement has been made. The machinery of deployment is in motion. Soldiers will arrive, media will descend, and political posturing will commence.”
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