Cape Town – Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police Ian Cameron has criticised the deployment of the South African National Defence Force in the Western Cape, saying the operation to curb gang violence in Cape Town is showing limited impact despite being intended as a major intervention.
According to EWN, while Operation Prosper has led to joint deployments in 17 identified crime hotspots across the Cape Flats, officials recorded 22 shootings over the Easter weekend in areas including Mitchells Plain, Manenberg, Delft, Elsies River, Lotus River and Bishop Lavis, with only two arrests made since the deployment began.
Cameron said the rollout has been inconsistent, with confusion over troop numbers and questions about coordination between the SANDF, the South African Police Service, and local law enforcement structures.
“At the beginning of last week, they said to us they would send just over 100 and then once the deployment started in Mitchells Plain last week, we noted that there had been just over 200 soldiers deployed,” the report quoted him as saying.
However, City of Cape Town Safety and Security Mayoral Committee Member JP Smith said over the weekend that early signs of improved cooperation between SANDF and SAPS are emerging on the ground, particularly in Mitchells Plain, where joint operations have begun strengthening intelligence-led policing.
Smith credited the Western Cape’s Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) for boosting arrests in affected precincts, but warned that gains are often lost in the criminal justice system due to delays in forensic reports, overwhelmed detectives, and courts releasing suspects back into communities.
He added that while SANDF support improves follow-up on intelligence and arrests, long-term success depends on broader justice system reforms, including better resources for detectives and stronger action from the National Prosecuting Authority.
