The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) says its operation to assist the police in fighting crime on the Cape Flats will be known as Operation Prosper.
The army announced that the soldiers could not deployed on Friday as they needed to complete paper work.
The SANDF spokesperson, Siphiwe Dlamini, says the army will be deployed from this month to October this year, pending the re-assessment of the situation.
“I will not be able to give you the exact time, but we will be deploying pretty soon. We need to make sure that all deployment papers are in place. We need to make sure that all the soldiers have received a full orientation of the areas and know where we are going to.”
#sapsHQ Operations conducted in effort to curb serious & violent crimes, proliferation of arms & drugs, searching for wanted suspects. This is the start of many operations in areas of Cape Flats. Operations will continue until these areas are normalized. #WesternCapeLockDown SW pic.twitter.com/obDIiabgQC
— SA Police Service (@SAPoliceService) July 13, 2019
On Friday, the Police Department says the army will be deployed as a supporting unit for the police to combat crime on the Cape Flats.
The Department’s spokesperson, Reneilwe Serero, says the army’s main purpose is to maintain law and order.
“They’re coming in as a force multiplier. Right now as we speak our Specialised units are on the ground. South African Police Service members are on the ground conducting operations. They will then be joined by the SANDF to assist and force multiply the members that are already on the ground. Their role or their mandate that they need to discharge is to assist the SAPS. They are under the command of the South African Police service and to assist in combating and preventing crime; but most importantly to maintain law and order and preserve the law.”
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