Following President Cyril Ramaphosa's February State of the Nation Address announcement, MPs expressed shame over the South African Police Service's (SAPS) crime-fighting failures during a 4 March parliamentary briefing, as the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) deployment began. The one-year operation targets gang violence and illegal mining in key hotspots across several provinces, with Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia stressing it as temporary stabilization for policing reforms.
During a 4 March 2026 briefing to Parliament's police oversight committee, MPs strongly criticised SAPS shortcomings that necessitated SANDF involvement.
Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler Barnard called it 'personally shameful,' highlighting SAPS's budget yet being outmanned, outgunned, and outsmarted by criminals, plus poor international optics. Economic Freedom Fighters MP Leigh-Anne Mathys deemed it a 'sad moment' for South Africans. African Christian Democratic Party MP Kenneth Meshoe called for transparency on SAPS briefings to SANDF.
The deployment, proclaimed by Ramaphosa, now covers gang violence in the Cape Flats, Gqeberha (added after outcry), and illegal mining in Gauteng, North West, and Free State areas. It runs from 1 March 2026 to 31 March 2027, with troops in training; SANDF handles arrests but hands suspects to police.
National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola rejected failure claims: 'We are not failing. They are complementing us.' Cachalia acknowledged capacity gaps in detectives and intelligence, calling it a stabilisation step, not a 'magic bullet,' to support a new organised crime strategy.
Recent crime stats (Oct-Dec 2025) showed murder drops (8.7%) but rises in attempted murders (2.5%). Parliamentary approvals continue. A similar 2018 Western Cape intervention provides precedent.
