Picture: SANDF deployed to assist police in combating crime
By OBAKENG MAJE
16 March 2026- The national police commissioner, General Fannie Masemola said the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) represent an important milestone in the strengthening of their collective national response to crime and serious violence in the country. Masemola said during the joint briefing that National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) met not merely to announce an operational deployment, but to reaffirm a fundamental principle, that the authority of the state will always prevail over criminality, intimidation and lawlessness.
He further said South Africans have rightly expressed deep concern about the levels of violent crime, the activities of organised criminal syndicates, and safety concerns in some communities. Masemola added that these concerns are legitimate and as the leadership of the JCPS cluster departments, they have taken the responsibility to respond decisively, strategically and with the full capability of the state.
“It is in this context that president Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address (SOPA), directed that the government intensify its fight against organised crime and strengthen cooperation between the security cluster departments.
“In his recent response to oral questions in Parliament, the president further emphasised that the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in cooperation with the South African Police Service (SAPS), forms part of a broader national effort to confront organised criminal networks, deal with
crime, stabilise affected communities and restore public confidence in law enforcement,” said Masemola.
He said NATJOINTS guided by this directive, Ramaphosa has authorised the deployment of the SANDF in cooperation with the SAPS under Operation Prosper. Masemola said this deployment spans a period of 13 months, with over 2000 members of the SANDF deployed across the country.
“The intervention will focus on the hotpots areas which includes and not limited to, Free State, Gauteng, North West, Western Cape and the Eastern Cape — areas that have been identified through intelligence and crime analysis as being significantly affected by criminal activity.
“The purpose of this intervention is to provide space to the SAPS to deal with both street crime and to disrupt, disable and dismantle organised crime groupings through a coordinated operational framework where the SANDF and SAPS will work together to stabilise crime-affected areas and restore the rule of law in communities where criminal networks have sought to undermine the authority of the state,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chief of SANDF, General Rudzani Maphwanya shared the same sentiments. Maphwanya said South Africa today faces complex organised-crime threats that extend beyond conventional criminal activity.
“In the Free State, Gauteng and North West, sophisticated illicit mining criminal groups continue to exploit abandoned and active mining infrastructure, generating enormous illicit financial flows, fuelling violence between gangs and rival groups, damaging essential infrastructure and contributing to environmental degradation.
“At the same time, gang-related violence in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng continues to drive high levels of murder, extortion, drug trafficking and illegal firearm proliferation, devastating communities and trapping many young people in cycles of violence. These criminal dynamics are not isolated. They are interconnected and often linked to illegal migration, illicit firearms trafficking, corruption networks and attacks on essential infrastructure,” he said.
Maphwanya said the scale, sophistication and persistence of these criminal activities have resulted in this extraordinary and integrated response by the government. He said this is precisely what this joint deployment seeks to achieve.
The Guardian 