This archive report was first published on 22 April 2020.
Published on April 22, 2020, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced plans to deploy more than 73,000 extra troops to help implement a nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
The country is four weeks into a strict police and military-enforced shutdown, with jogging, dog-walking, and the sale of alcohol banned until the end of April.
Security forces have struggled to keep people indoors, particularly in overcrowded townships, and the police have been grappling with illegal alcohol sales.
Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula confirmed the authenticity of a letter from Ramaphosa, announcing the deployment of an additional 73,180 members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) until June 26.
The operation is expected to cost around 4.5 billion rand ($2.4 million / 2.2 million euros), with those deployed comprising regular, reserve, and auxiliary personnel.
Mapisa-Nqakula stated, "If you look at the numbers and the rate at which the infection has gone up, you will realise that at some point we may actually need the kind of human deployment which has never been seen before."
South Africa has recorded 3,465 cases of coronavirus, the continent's second-highest number of infections after Egypt, with 58 fatalities recorded so far.
