Fighting gang violence needs ‘army deployment’, Parliament told

SANDF chief General Maphwanya reassured communities that the soldiers are there to protect them, not to cause harm. Parliamentarians have said that they are not yet happy with the operational plans of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) with the South African Police Service (SAPS), but that they expect a forthcoming joint committee meeting will help ease some of their concerns. This emerged on Thursday during a Peace and Security Cluster briefing by various committee chairpersons, where they discussed and briefed the media on Parliament’s oversight of crime, defence and national security matters.

The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Security and Justice, Jane Mananiso, discussed the deployment of soldiers and gang activity. On the deployment of soldiers, she explained that different cities have given “different postures and responses” to what they expect out of the SANDF deployment “For instance, people of Eldorado Park welcome the intervention; however, they want to suggest that this intervention not be only about the deployment for crime issues, but let the governments of provinces look at issues of employment, job opportunities, and to provide psycho-social support. “So, as committees, that’s what we need to follow through. Are the people, who are supposed to be helped after going through the trauma, getting assistance from those departments that need to deliver aftercare?”