‘Army’s not the answer’
An expert says deploying the military to trouble spots in the Western Cape – as suggested by Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane – could go horribly wrong.
The DA’s call for the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to be deployed in the Western Cape “seems quite populist” and could do more harm than good, according to an expert.
The DA marched from the Manenberg police station to the Nyanga station yesterday, calling for the army to be deployed to crime-ridden communities on the Cape Flats.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane accused government of failing crime-stricken communities, and implored President Cyril Ramaphosa to use his constitutional powers to deploy the military, saying “... The people of Philippi, Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Mannenberg, Nyanga and many other neighbourhoods are suffering particularly badly”.
“Your government has a duty to protect you from crime and criminals. It says so in our constitution. Your right to freedom and security is one of the very first things mentioned in the Bill of Rights.”
Maimane claimed the people of the Western Cape were getting the short end of the stick, while pointing out the fact that residents of Nyanga have to make do with only one police officer for every 628 residents, while the national average is one officer to 369 people.
He accused the ANC of having “politicised crime”, saying “the ANC has decided to use your safety and your lives as political pawns. They are punishing you for the choices of the people of Cape Town and the Western Cape”.
In contrast to his predecessor, Fikile Mbalula, who promised that the military would be deployed on Cape Town’s streets by Christmas last year, Police Minister Bheki Cele almost immediately dismissed Maimane’s calls.
It was also Cele who shelved Mbalula’s plans for this earlier this year, when he was reappointed as police commissioner.
At a briefing yesterday, Cele said the army was not trained to deal with civilians, and that the Western Cape’s crime statistics had not reached a point that necessitated the deployment of the army.
Lizette Lancaster from the Institute for Security Studies’ Crime and Justice information bub echoed Cele’s statements.
“Bringing in the military is a very troubling concept,” she told The Citizen yesterday. “The military are not trained to work with civilians, and you don’t want soldiers deployed in these areas with assault rifles. That could potentially do more harm than good.”
Lancaster said the DA’s calls seemed “quite populist” as there were several alternatives which needed to be explored first. –
Military are not trained to work with civilians and you don’t want soldiers in these areas. Lizette Lancaster Institute for Security Studies’ Crime and Justice info hub