SANDF deployment meant to help neutralise hotspot areas

Deputy Police Commissioner Tebello Mosikili said that the police service is rallying as many officers as possible to carry out its new anti-gang strategy so that it is not outnumbered by the 2,200 soldiers who will be deployed to stabilise hotspot areas.

She said that the aim is to maintain a ratio of two police officers for every soldier deployed.

Mosikili told Parliament that South African Police Service (SAPS) officers who will be deployed for this mission are all being screened because vetting would take too long, as police committee chairperson Ian Cameron raised concerns about the inclusion of cops under investigation or out on bail.

In response to concerns from Parliamentarians that the deployment of soldiers might become indefinite and rolled over from year to year, Mosikili said that this is not the intention.

She said that the deployment is meant to help neutralise hotspot areas to allow police to do their work.

"The issue of gangs is coming a long way, and we are trying to make sure we don’t regress and go back to the times of Pagad."

But she has pointed out that there currently aren’t enough police officers to deploy in all the affected areas, and police colleges are not churning out enough recruits, either.

She said that the army deployment is aimed at assisting police to implement their anti-gang strategy, and not because the SAPS is failing, as suggested by several political parties.

"This is civil policing. It is not a war of the country with itself. We are trying to manage the crime levels that are going high."

Mosikili added that crime statistics will show that police are doing everything in their power to get a grip on rampant crime.