Experts say the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been deployed in Gauteng, Western Cape and Eastern Cape because the SAPS crime intelligence is ineffective and destroyed.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/ Independent Media
The deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in Gauteng, Western Cape, and the Eastern Cape has been described as an admission that crime intelligence and police services have been destroyed and collapsed.
Experts say the deployment of the defence force would most likely offer only tactical relief, rather than strategic and sustainable solutions to the problem, adding that this cannot substitute for the necessary, long-term overhaul of the SAPS, which must focus on intelligence-led operations, detective work, and dismantling criminal networks.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of the SANDF in Gauteng and the Western Cape during his 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) on February 12.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia later confirmed the deployment would also include the Eastern Cape.
He said this is a targeted response to the most immediate threat to South Africa’s democracy, which includes organised crime, gang violence and illegal mining.
This is not the first time the SANDF has been deployed to deal with crime. In October 2017, following a significant surge in crime and gang-related violence on the Cape Flats, the then Police Minister, Fikile Mbalula, requested SANDF assistance for the SAPS to combat gangs in the Western Cape and Gauteng. The deployment was specifically aimed at "crime-stubborn" areas like Elsies River and other parts of the Cape Flats, where police were struggling to contain military-style gang groupings.
Security expert, Willem Els, said that the government cannot act pre-emptively without crime intelligence, adding that the country should learn from the previous deployment in the Western Cape, where the murder rate went up after their withdrawal after eight months, which indicated that it did not have the desired effect at all.
Else said that bringing the same old model shows that crime intelligence and the police as a whole have been infested, adding that criminal syndicates and organised crime have taken over the criminal justice system.
“If you don’t have crime intelligence, you cannot act pre-emptively, and that is why most police operations are reactive in nature,” he said, adding that the SAPS should re-establish credible crime intelligence and policing systems.
Spokesperson for the Police Minister, Kamo Mogotsi, said the ministry, on February 12, issued a statement advising of the engagements it would have with a range of stakeholders to discuss measures underway to curb gang violence in the Western Cape and their effectiveness
“The ministry further advised that the stabilisation plan was being revised to ensure a strong emphasis on the enhanced deployment of specialised units, in addition to the existing Anti-Gang Unit, to areas most affected by gang-related violence,” she said, adding that the revised plan also aims to improve operational capability and strengthen intelligence-driven policing in hotspots across the province.
Mogotsi added that crime intelligence forms part of the multidisciplinary team that has been assembled to fight gang violence.
South Africa’s fight against crime is severely hampered by a dysfunctional Crime Intelligence division within the SAPS.
The intelligence-led policing has been failing due to internal corruption, political interference, and a lack of actionable intelligence to stop organised crime and murders.
In March 2025, the Portfolio Committee on police convened on 05 March 2025 to address growing concerns over instability, corruption, and operational failures within the SAPS Crime Intelligence division. The hearing, attended by suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola, and senior SAPS officials, revealed incidents of internal leaks, leadership turmoil, and resource mismanagement that have plagued the division for years.
Although the SAPS officials assured the committee that intelligence operations were functioning effectively, lawmakers raised serious concerns regarding persistent leadership instability, politically motivated misuse of intelligence, and the failure to prevent violent crime and unrest. The hearing underscored the urgent need for stronger oversight, accountability, and structural reforms to restore confidence in the country’s crime intelligence capabilities.
Testimony before the Madlanga Commission and Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee also detailed how criminal syndicates and drug cartels have successfully infiltrated SAPS, often with the help of senior officials. The testimony also exposed how crime intelligence has been riddled with corruption, internal leaks, and cases where officers sold classified information.
Another security expert, Andy Mashaile, believes that the SANDF has been deployed due to the collapse of SAPS, saying this cannot be branded as a solution.
Responding to Ramaphosa’s announcement, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) senior researcher Anine Kriegler and head of justice and violence prevention at the Institute, Lizette Lancaster, said making communities safer depends on strengthening routine policing practices and embedding evidence-based approaches, not crisis management and the repeated deployment of the military.
manyane.manyane@inl.co.za