President Ramaphosa deployed 2,200 soldiers nationwide: Yet fear strikes the Western Cape

By Nomahlubi Charlie

On the 13th of March 2026, President Cyril Ramaphosa held a press conference announcing his approval of the deployment of 2 200 SANDF personnel across 5 provinces: Gauteng,

Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Free State, and North West. The deployment aimed to assist

SAPS with anti-gangsterism and illegal mining operations. The deployment timeline

is from the 1st of March 2026 to the 31st of March 2027. Despite President Ramaphosa’s announcement of SANDF deployment to combat gang violence, soldiers have not yet appeared in the Western Cape in the Cape Flats, while the community of the Western Cape continues to face high murder rates without the soldiers, which statistically accounts for around 90% of the country’s gang-related killings.

President Ramaphosa’s Deployment of 2,200 Soldiers across 5 Provinces- picture from Msn

On the 14th of March 2026, at least 16 murders were reported in Western Cape crime

hotspot areas. When DA MP, Nicholas Gotsell, attended two meetings last week

with the Joint Standing Committee on Defence and the portfolio committee on police. “When

We asked if the troops are ready, in terms of training; we were told that they are still in training,” Gotsell said. While in Johannesburg, the troops are currently working hand-in-hand with the police to take down gangsters. Citizens of the Western Cape fear that their children will get involved in gangsterism. Community activist Michael Jacobs said, “The army is not going to solve our socio-economic issues that have been there for generations; what we found is that kids at the age of 9-10 years are being recruited to gangs”. Even though gangsterism continues, there is no intervention.

The wave of violence has raised questions about how long the communities must wait for the promised intervention, while in other provinces, the troops are already detaining gangsters. The President has yet to release another statement about the absence of soldiers. However, he has directed the acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachaila, and the SANDF to develop a technical plan outlining where security focus should be deployed to address gang violence and illegal mining in the Western Cape and Gauteng. This indicates that the SANDF is focusing on specific areas to address these issues. While the troops were supposed to be

assigned to other areas in the Western Cape, they continue living in fear.

An Image of the South African National Defence Force- picture from Central News.

Community members feel hopeless as there is nothing the SANDF is doing that they haven’t

tried doing themselves. Community activist Raafiqah Ganger said, “The parents, the mothers, the fathers of this community; we are the people who can get rid of this gangsterism.” The

Chairperson of the Cape Flats Forum, Abbie Isaacs, said that the community has been waiting for weeks for soldiers' intervention as they were promised. Isaacs acknowledges that the

soldiers may be undergoing some training; however, he states that there is an urgent need

for soldiers.

At first, the community experienced a delay for orientation purposes, but they are long past

the 10 days the President spoke about. They fear that a month will pass without any

intervention from their side. The Police Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Ian Cameron,

raised concern about the lack of a strategy. Cameron said, “To be clear, Parliament is not

requesting sensitive operation details or tactical information that could compromise safety

ground. However, what remains missing is a clear strategic development plan

explaining how this intervention actually works.”

Without a clear strategy, the Cape Flats community remains hopeless and

fearful without any intervention of troops due to a lack of good leadership and a clear plan.

Article Edited by: Munei Zoe Mbedzi