South African army arrive in crime hotspots to help tackle gangs

"There's danger that they will escalate situations or respond very aggressively in... tense situations."

— Guy Lamb , Academic

"They will be on the ground for seven days a week. There might be a break here and there because we will be looking at our crime patterns and deploy as such."

— Luyanda Damoyi , Executive

"All I am asking, please, as a mother, bring the army back because we are not safe with Saps here in Elderado Park, they are useless."

— Mercedes Delport , Activist

"We need them 24/7 patrolling the streets because as we have seen the shootings don't only happen at night."

— Chenelle George , Activist

"There is a module which is called fighting in build-up areas, that is where we go and hone our skills and say if I'm here in the communities, what is my conduct, how are we going to conduct ourselves in the operations."

— Martin Gopane , Other

"As the provincial board, we stand in full support of all lawful and necessary measures aimed at restoring safety and protecting our communities."

— Francina Lucas , Activist

"We don't plan to fail."

— Thembisile Patekile , Executive

"An SANDF deployment is not a silver bullet. Soldiers can temporarily stabilise a situation, but they cannot replace proper policing, investigations, and long-term crime prevention."

— Bendicta van Minnen , Politician

"They will be on the ground for seven days a week."

— Luyanda Damoyi , Executive

"All I am asking, please, as a mother, bring the army back because we are not safe with Saps here in Eldorado Park, they are useless."

— Mercedes Delport , Activist

"We need them 24/7 patrolling the streets because as we have seen the shootings don't only happen at night anytime is tea time for these shooters here."

— Chenelle George , Activist

"The gangs must run. We must take charge. We need to make sure that we support the South African Police Service, as well as the SANDF."

— Christopher Jones , Executive

"If we are truly committed to sustainable change, we have to look beyond enforcement alone. We must examine and strengthen the entire criminal justice value chain from policing, to investigating, to prosecution, and ultimately to successful convictions."

— Francina Lucas , Activist