South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the deployment of the military to work alongside the police in tackling high levels of gang violence and other crimes in the country.
The decision comes as the country grapples with one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with approximately 60 deaths each day involving killings in wars between drug gangs in areas of Cape Town and mass shootings linked to illegal mining in Johannesburg’s Gauteng province.
According to Ramaphosa, the military will be deployed to the Western Cape and Gauteng to deal with gang violence and illegal mining, with the president directing the chiefs of the police and army to draw up a plan for deployment within the next few days.
Crime and Security
Organised crime has been identified as the most immediate threat to South Africa’s democracy, society, and economic development, with the president stating that children in the Western Cape are caught in the crossfire of gang wars and people are being chased out of their homes by illegal miners in Gauteng.
The government has also announced other measures to fight crime, including recruiting 5,500 police officers and boosting intelligence while identifying priority crime syndicates.
Authorities have long struggled to prevent gangs of miners, referred to as “zama zamas”, from entering closed or abandoned mines in the gold-rich nation to search for remaining reserves, with the government claiming that these miners are typically armed, undocumented foreign nationals involved in crime syndicates.
Water Crisis and Governance
President Ramaphosa also addressed the worsening water crisis in the country, stating that water outages are a symptom of a local government system that is not working, and that authorities would pursue criminal charges against municipal officials who fail to deliver water to communities.
Residents of Johannesburg held scattered protests this week after taps had been dry in some neighbourhoods for more than 20 days, highlighting the need for urgent action to address the crisis.
The president also called out “powerful nations” who exert their dominance and influence over less powerful states, stating that South Africans could not consider themselves free as long as people in other parts of the world suffer occupation, oppression, and war.
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