SANDF is not a cure for crime

MUCH has been said about the planned deployment of the SANDF to crime hotspots in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng, but as the roll-out approaches an all-to-familiar question arises: how will this time be different?

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The government has been careful to describe the deployment as a stabilisation measure rather than a cure for violent crime, and Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has already conceded that soldiers will not provide a magical solution. That honesty is welcome, because experience has shown that military visibility may calm tensions temporarily but cannot replace sustained policing, investigations and functioning criminal justice systems.

While committees debate command structures and funding models, crime continues at street level.