Army to shift focus in Operation Lockdown

“We have begun to take down the strategic criminals Khehla John Sithole National police commissioner

PHASE 2 of Operation Lockdown, which saw the deployment of the SANDF to crime-ridden areas, will focus on normalisation interventions, mass mobilisation of communities and multi-disciplinary collaboration.

National police commissioner General Khehla John Sithole was speaking at the opening of the Interpol 2nd Global Drugs and Illicit Substances Trafficking Conference, held at The Westin hotel in Cape Town yesterday.

It follows the announcement on Monday that the SANDF would patrol gang-infested areas across the province for another six months, to try to maintain stability, including during the upcoming matric exams and over the festive season.

The soldiers were expected to pack up and leave but President Cyril Ramaphosa extended their deployment until March 31 next year.

Sithole said while authorities could not share operational differences between the phases, he was able to share strategic differences.

“The first Operation Lockdown was a pure stabilisation intervention in which we had been stamping the authority of the state, demonstrating the presence of the security forces and the law, sending the message that this was not a banana republic.

“The second (phase) is directly connected to the normalisation interventions… which have already commenced among others, massive mobilisation of communities and multi-disciplinary collaboration,” Sithole said.

“We are… moving away from the hardcore, the hard approach, we are linking the strategic policing dimension into the intervention, and we are also further linking innovative policing.”

He said policing was at a level where they had uncovered the modus operandi of some criminals on the Cape Flats.

“We have begun to take down the strategic criminals that are responsible for both the drug business as well as the gang business in the province.

“Then we are presently, moving the resources into those directly affected police stations, so that we ensure sustainable policing in the province,” Sithole said.

Meanwhile, Police Minister Bheki Cele said the decision to extend the army’s deployment was not as a result of any letters from outside parties to Ramaphosa.

This after Premier Alan Winde indicated the party wrote to the president calling for the extension.

“One thing is for sure, we have always known two months was too little to make an impact, this will give us a longer time to make an impact,” Cele said.