As President Cyril Ramaphosa this week extended the deployment of SA National Defence Force (SANDF) troops providing support to the SA Police Service tackling the scourge of illegal mining, the SA National Defence Union (SANDU) said the move is a cause for concern.
IOL reported earlier this week that the extension of the deployment of the more than 1,000 troops will come at a cost of more than R140 million to taxpayers. The extension was revealed in a letter Ramaphosa wrote to National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza on November 8.
“This serves to inform the National Assembly that I have extended the employment of 1,100 members of the SANDF for service in cooperation with the SAPS for the prevention and combating and maintain and preserve of law in the Republic under Operation Prosper,” he wrote.
Ramaphosa also said the deployment of the SANDF members, in cooperation with SAPS, would be aimed at preventing and combating illegal mining activities within Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West, Free State and Northern Cape under Operation Prosper over the period of December 1, 2024, until March 31, 2025.
In an interview with broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, SANDU general secretary Pikkie Greef said it is very dangerous to normalise the deployment of the military onto the streets.
“From the union side, it is very concerning, even if there is financial benefit for our members to be deployed they get extra allowances and so forth – this is very important from a constitutional point of view. We are very concerned that South Africans are becoming accustomed to military deployment the civilian stream when in fact the police is supposed to be able to handle this situation on their own,” he said.
“The defence force keeps being used in a way that they actually shouldn’t be used. It is very dangerous for a constitutional democracy to normalise the deployment of the defence force in the civilian stream.”
Greef said the deployment of police, as is happening at Stilfontein, has become necessary because the SAPS in not up to the task.
“Quite simply put, the police is not up to the task. That is quite simply the reason and for the reason for soldiers to step in where the police come short, it’s an indictment on the police. Something needs to be done about the police. They have four times more members than the defence force, they have way bigger budget, they have all the resources they need to handle the situation,” said Greef.
He said the handling of the police budget, and the issues of manpower has created “a very unsavoury situation”.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on Friday visited the Stilfontein area in North West where illegal miners – said to be in their thousands – are stranded underground after police and soldiers flooded the areas as part of Operation Vala Umgodi.
IOL