This archive report was first published on 15 August 2019.
Crime-weary residents of Cape Town's gang-ridden Cape Flats area have expressed frustration over the lack of relief brought by the recent military deployment to combat gang violence.
Since July, 1,300 soldiers have been deployed to shore up the police forces battling deadly gang violence in the area, which has become one of the most dangerous places in South Africa.
However, a month after their deployment, the troops appear to have brought little relief for the poverty-stricken community.
"Everybody was elated when they heard the news that the army was going to come in because the situation was so dire, that anything to improve the situation would have helped," said Kader Jacobs, who heads a community policing forum in Manenberg township.
But despite the army's presence, locals continue to live in fear and suspect that many cases won't be thoroughly investigated.
Police statistics show that murders in the Western Cape province rose 6.3 percent to nearly 4,000 in the year up to April 2019.
According to a new report on urban safety released by the South African Cities Network this year, Cape Town recorded the highest murder rates in the country at 69 people killed per 100,000, double the national average.
"They send in the army but the army can't do anything," said 50-year-old Sally-Anne Jacobs who lost both her son and 19-year-old cousin to gang violence over the past four years.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said that while "it's not an ideal world to send soldiers into communities," there has been more than 1,000 arrests so far for various crimes including attempted murder, robbery, and hijackings.
Despite the mass arrests, locals remain skeptical, and social activist Roegchanda Pascoe is not impressed with the army's performance.
"From what I've seen the army hasn't done much. Minimal to nought impact has been measured," she said.
