Cape Town - There has been an overwhelming response to the news that the SANDF will be deployed to hot spots in the Western Cape, but not all have been positive.
On Thursday, while speaking at a media briefing after he tabled his budget vote in Parliament, Police Minister Bheki Cele said President Cyril Ramaphosa had approved a request for the deployment after he sat down with Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
This was part of "extraordinary" measures to be deployed following a bloody weekend in the Mother City's townships where at least 13 people were killed in several shootings in Philippi East over the weekend.
"We are working on the matter of deployment. We have mentioned the places that we'll be sealing them off," Cele said.
The news was welcomed by the Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, and Mayco Member for Safety and Security JP Smith, but the response online has been far more complicated with many feeling unsure about the move.
I hear this argument, sir, and the rationale is sound. I'm not be a huge fan of this move for all the reasons you cite. But then I ask myself: what is the alternative?
— Gasant Abarder (@GasantAbarder) July 12, 2019
Deploying the SANDF to the Cape Flats will not end well, those are actual soldiers and not the police. Guys, this is not the solution AT ALL. Sending the whole entire army into communities, imagine the complete mayhem that is about to erupt?
— 🌩⚡King of Asgard 🌩⚡ (@TraceyManus) July 12, 2019
And what happens when more lives are lost by sending armed soldiers into our communities? Communities where are our kids are exposed to daily traumas?
— 🌩⚡King of Asgard 🌩⚡ (@TraceyManus) July 12, 2019
This deployment of the army to the Cape Flats to deal with gang violence makes me nervous. Takes me back to the Pablo Escobar-Columbian army stand-off in the 80s/90s that left thousands on dead bodies in its wake.
— Amukelani Chauke (@Amu_keh_larney) July 12, 2019
What if deploying the Army to the Cape Flats doesn’t work!??
What if we can’t even win a war against gangsters?!
How will SANDF then? Will we still have faith in them to protect our country?
— Just Add Water (@KoppeStamp06) July 12, 2019
How is militarisation going to help us confront the trauma of our past? A trauma that tore communities & families apart. Trauma that disrupted & continues to disrupt our collective sense of belonging and identity? #CapeFlats
— Jodi X 🦋 (@Jodi_Will) July 12, 2019
Militarised policing hasn’t worked in the fight against gangs and violent crime in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, nor in the streets of the biggest cities in the Philippines. Soldiers are not trained in community policing, they are trained in warfare.
— Ziyanda (@ZiyandaS_) July 12, 2019
Thinking that deploying SANDF to the Cape flats is a good move by the General is just lazy thinking.
— Vuyolwabo (@Vee_Vovo) July 12, 2019
In my opinion the REAL perpetrators of crime in the Cape Flats don't reside in those areas but in affluent surbubs, some who are purported to be 'kingpins' are just surrogates, you may arrest many but as soon as the army lives REAL bosses will push drugs again with new recruits.
— Dissenter (@Thembinkosi3) July 12, 2019