Analyst on SANDF deployment: Soldiers should not be doing the police's work

Defence analyst Ricardo Teixeira said the army might be confused about its deployment in Gauteng.

Teixeira said the military cannot independently perform raids in people's homes without the presence of senior police.

The chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, raised questions about the raids conducted by soldiers on Wednesday in the south of Johannesburg.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the troops in Gauteng will focus on assisting police with clamping down on illegal mining.

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But Teixeira said the military does not know what to do in the province, which is why they were seen doing police work on Wednesday.

He’s questioned whether the South African Defence Force (SANDF) members received the right training ahead of this operation.

"We've forgotten the painful lessons of the past of the use of the military domestically, and those lessons are specifically why under the Constitution and the Defence Act and the Police Act, that these powers have been separated and clearly outlined. That this is not supposed to be a situation that happens unless it is an absolute national emergency like COVID or the July 21 riot."

He added that the military should not be in the streets, in communities, enforcing these laws.