South Africa last week deployed soldiers into the streets of Cape Town to patrol the crime-hit townships of the pot city. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops are expected to remain active in the streets for three months.
Additionally, some troops will be deployed to the crime-high Western Cape province for at least three months to boost a struggling local police force. The deployment was sanctioned by SA president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa told legislators the soldiers would support the police to reinstate law and maintain order in communities that are being terrorized by gangsterism and deal with the most extreme incidents of violent crime.
The move was triggered by statistic indicating that at least 2000 people have been killed by gangs and criminals in the mainly poor majority-black and mixed-race areas since January 2019.
South Africa has suffered high crime rates and especially crimes that lead to death especially in the poor communities where unemployment, drug use and gang-related crimes. Last year, more than 20,000 people were murdered in South Africa – an average of 57 a day.
