Parliament has heard that the SANDF deployment will last for a year to fight gangsterism and illegal mining, but MPs lamented that the police have failed so badly that the army had to be called in to fight crime.
“It's personally embarrassing” that police have admitted they have failed so badly that they need the help of the country's military to help fight crime within South Africa's borders.
These were the words of Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler Bernard in Parliament on Wednesday, 4 March 2026, when the police oversight committee was briefed on the deployment of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF).
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced this during his state of the nation address in February SANDF deployment To help the police fight crime: gang violence in the Western Cape and illegal mining in Gauteng.
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Following an outcry from residents of the northern areas of Gqebarha, Acting Police Minister Firoz Kaichalia Announced that the deployment has been extended to the Eastern Cape.
According to a presentation on Wednesday, hotspot areas where the SANDF will be deployed include gang-affected communities on the Cape Flats (Western Cape) and northern areas of Gqeberha (Eastern Cape).
The second focus is on illegal mining, where troops will also be deployed in Gauteng (Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, West Rand districts), the North West (Klerksdorp, Orkney, Stilfontein, Hartbeesfontein and Dr Ruth Mompati districts) and the Free State (Goldfields region).
As Daily Maverick's John Stupart…