This archive report was first published on 19 July 2019.
Published on July 19, 2019, South African soldiers were deployed to gang-ridden Cape Town suburbs to help quell escalating violence that has killed hundreds this year.
According to Reuters and community activists, the violence has been likened to a war zone, with over 2,000 people killed in the past seven months, nearly half of whom were victims of gang-related violence.
The South African National Defence Force deployed a battalion with support elements to the Cape Flats, an area with high rates of unemployment and drug abuse, which have fueled gang activity.
Community leader Kader Jacobs, chairman of the Manenberg Community Policing Forum, described the army's deployment as a 'cameo visit' that lasted only an hour and a half.
“For an hour and a half they targeted houses and cordoned off some streets. … They did some raids with the anti-gang unit and the local police,” Jacobs said.
Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said the army deployment would be determined by intelligence gathering, with the goal of deterring further gang violence.
“It will have to be robust in the beginning to stabilize the situation and have an element of surprise,” she said.
