_: President Jacob Zuma has decided against deploying troops in the Cape Town areas affected by gangster activities at this stage, and has opted for more intensive action by the police and long-term interventions by social and economic clusters of government.
The Premier of the Western Cape, Ms Helen Zille had asked the President to deploy troops in light of brazen criminality by gangs.
The President has received briefings from the Minister of Police and the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans regarding the situation in Cape Town suburbs of Hanover Park and Lavender Hill. A joint task team comprising of personnel from both the Department of Police and the Department of Defence and Military Veterans was sent to the two suburbs to assess the situation.
The briefing from the two Ministers highlighted that:
The situation in these areas required a long term and multi-disciplinary approach.
The South African Police Service has the necessary capacity to deal with the situation in these areas.
The situation does not require the deployment of members of the South African National Defence Force.
There are socio-economic conditions which need to be addressed in these areas. The South African Police Service has adopted the following strategy to deal with the current situation:
Increased capacity to gather intelligence information in these areas;
Increased police capacity in these areas.
Increased police visibility in these areas;
Increased community mobilization and interaction;
Partnerships and cooperation with government departments and NGO’s;
The government response will extend to the areas of Manneberg, Elsies Rivier and Nyanga as gang activity is prevalent in these areas as well.
President Zuma has also directed Ministers in the social and economic sectors to also study the situation and look for long term solutions that promote sustainable development and stable communities.
The President will monitor the situation to ascertain success of the initiatives and further decisions will be taken if necessary.