Limits of the SANDF in gang warfare

The SANDF has been called in once again to support the SAPS with armed peacekeeping in the Cape Flats. While this redeployment is not currently guaranteed, community and political leaders are divided on the long-term sustainability of this solution to the ongoing threat of gang and gun violence in South African civilian communities.

- RUTH LINDEROTH

Philosophers of war are similarly divided on the safety of military deployment on noncombatants. Contemporary ethical debates on the justice of large-scale force remind us that these political decisions are multifaceted, require much consideration, and are potentially burdensome on civilians.

Recent repeated calls for the redeployment of the SANDF have been urged by the Cape Flats Safety Forum, despite the Western Cape Police Commissioner, Thembisile Patekile, refuting the need for redeployment to the area. The chair of this organisation, Albie Isaacs, insists that military intervention is required to keep residents of the Cape Flats safe. He emphasises: “Again, this weekend, blood was spilling in and around the streets of the Cape Flats, people shooting openly in parking spaces, where our kids need to play. Again, we are saying that there is an urgent need for the South African Defence Force to be a force multiplier”