South Africa deploys soldiers to the streets to tackle organized and
violent crime
[March 12, 2026]
By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and MICHELLE GUMEDE
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Soldiers were deployed to the streets of South
Africa’s biggest city Wednesday in an effort to help police fight gang
violence and illegal mining.
It was 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.
Soldiers jumped from vehicles and entered apartment blocks as military
vehicles moved through the Riverlea and Westbury suburbs of
Johannesburg.
Many residents of Riverlea expressed relief to see soldiers deployed to
stem the violence.
One resident, Pearl Hilma, told The Associated Press that she supports
the crackdown “because there’s lots of gangsterism as well as gunshots
every night” in the neighborhood.
Some of the buildings in the area have graffiti signs denouncing the
scourge of crime, with one near a school reading “No to Guns, Pray for
our Community.”
South Africa's police and the Department of Defense, which oversees the
military, did not immediately provide details on the deployment.
Authorities had previously said the military deployment in different
parts of the country would start March 1, but it was delayed while
soldiers received training. The army will operate under police command
during the deployment.
Another resident, Yasin Botha, said the presence of both police and
military reassured him that there would be a quick reaction now when
shootings occur.
“Currently, I feel unsafe because we don’t know when the next shooting
is going to happen and we don’t know who it is targeted at,” Botha said.
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, due to last until the end of
April.
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.
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South African National Defense Forces deploy in the Riverlea
township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026.
(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Parts of the national deployment could last more than a year, police
officials said.
South Africa has high rates of violent crime. Police reported 6,351
homicides from October to December 2025, an average of nearly 70 a
day in a country of around 62 million people, while there are also
high numbers of attempted murders and violent assaults.
South Africa has deployed the army several times in recent years to
help with outbursts of crime and disorder, including in 2021, when
riots and looting in two provinces sparked by the imprisonment of
former President Jacob Zuma and frustrations over COVID-19 lockdowns
led to the deaths of more than 350 people.
Ramaphosa has said that the deployment of soldiers was carefully
considered given the army was used to crush pro-democracy protests
during South Africa's decades of enforced racial segregation under
the apartheid system, which ended in 1994.
But he said it had “become necessary due to a surge in violent
organized crime that threatens the safety of our people and the
authority of the state.”
The deployment has largely been welcomed, though some political
parties have said it is an admission that police have largely failed
to curb crime.
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Associated Press writer Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa
contributed to this report.
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