Troops deployed in Johannesburg to tackle organised crime

Soldiers were deployed on the streets of South Africa’s biggest city on Wednesday after the president announced plans to use the army in several provinces in Africa’s leading economy to help police fight gang violence and illegal mining.

Soldiers were seen in the Johannesburg suburb of Riverlea in the first major deployment since President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his annual speech to the nation last month that he would use the army against organized crime, which he called the greatest threat to democracy and the country’s economic development.

An Associated Press reporter saw a convoy of more than a dozen military vehicles move through the Riverlea suburb, with soldiers jumping out the vehicles to enter some apartment blocks. Riverlea is one area of Johannesburg affected by both gang-related violence and illegal mining.

South Africa’s police and the Department of Defense, which oversees the military, did not immediately provide details on the deployment.

The authorities had previously said the military deployment in different parts of the country would start on March 1, but it was delayed while soldiers were given training in law enforcement protocols. The army will operate under police command during the deployment.

Ramaphosa said in a notice to the Speaker of Parliament that 550 soldiers would be involved in an initial deployment in the Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, to help combat crime and preserve law and order. That deployment would last until the end of April, he said.

The government plans a wider deployment in five of its nine provinces, according to details submitted by police to Parliament.

The deployment will focus on illegal mining in the Gauteng, North West and Free State provinces, and gang violence in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces.

Parts of the national deployment could last more than a year, police officials said.

South Africa