The South African National Defence Force has now touched down in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg.
Soldiers have begun going door-to-door as part of a major security intervention aimed at tackling
gangsterism and violent crime in the area. This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa announcing during the State of the Nation Address that the military would be deployed to crime-ridden communities in Gauteng, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape under Operation Prosper. Around 550 soldiers have been deployed in Gauteng, with the operation expected to run for a full year and cost more than R80 million in the province alone. The soldiers are working alongside the South African Police Service to try and stabilise communities that have been gripped by violent crime. But the big question tonight is this: what does it say about the state of policing in South Africa when the army has to be called into our neighbourhoods? Is this a necessary intervention to protect residents, or does it signal a deeper failure of law enforcement and social policy in our country?