Members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) were seen patrolling the streets of Eldorado Park and Riverlea in Johannesburg on Wednesday as part of a deployment aimed at tackling illegal mining and organised crime in Gauteng.
Armoured vehicles were seen moving from street to street, marking one of the first visible deployments in the province since the operation began earlier this month.
On Wednesday TimesLIVE reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed the deployment of 550 soldiers to fight illegal mining in Gauteng.
The deployment is expected to cost more than R80m.
The deployment is part of a national intervention announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa to support the South African Police Service (SAPS) in combating organised crime and illegal mining syndicates in several provinces.
SAPS told parliament’s portfolio committee on police that the operation started on March 1 and will run until March 31 2027.
SAPS project coordinator for the deployment Maj-Gen Mark Hankel said the joint deployment would help disrupt criminal networks linked to illegal mining and gang activity.
“The joint deployment will give us space to function in those areas and address the objective of disrupting and dismantling these criminal elements,” he said.
In Gauteng the operation focuses on illegal mining hotspots in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and the West Rand.
TimesLIVE
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