President Cyril Ramaphosa says Operation Prosper has reduced violent crime and murders in 14 of the 17 Cape Flats police precincts hardest hit by violence, as authorities prepare to shift the crackdown towards senior gang leaders and organised crime networks.
Image: ANA Studio / IOL Graphics
President Cyril Ramaphosa says Operation Prosper is showing results on the Cape Flats, with violent crime and murders reduced in 14 of the 17 most affected police precincts, despite continued gang-related violence.
Ramaphosa was responding to a parliamentary question from uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) Member of Parliament Zibuse Cele, who questioned why the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) alongside the South African Police Service (SAPS) had seemingly failed to achieve a meaningful reduction in killings.
Cele also asked what assessment had been made of the intervention and what further measures had been implemented to strengthen coordination between security agencies and protect residents from ongoing violence.
His response comes as Operation Prosper continues to face scrutiny over whether the deployment is achieving a meaningful reduction in gang-related violence on the Cape Flats.
Ramaphosa acknowledged that violent crime remained unacceptably high but said the deployment had had a stabilising effect in many of the priority areas.
“The levels of violent crime in the affected communities remain unacceptably high,” Ramaphosa said.
“However, the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to support the South African Police Service (SAPS) on the Cape Flats is showing some operational results.”
He attributed the persistence of gang-related violence to “deep-seated socio-economic conditions, entrenched criminal networks, retaliatory violence and the availability of illegal firearms”.
The President said the intervention was being assessed using indicators including arrests and the recovery of illegal firearms, ammunition and illicit narcotics.
“I am advised that a comprehensive, in-depth assessment of the longer-term impact of the intervention is being undertaken to inform the continued refinement of the approach,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the current approach was the first part of a phased strategy focused on stabilising affected communities and disrupting criminal activity.
He said the next phase would target senior gang leaders and the organisational structures of gangs and organised crime groups.
“This next phase is specifically aimed at targeting the senior leaders and organisational structures of gangs and organised crime groups, to move beyond disruption towards the dismantling of the networks driving violence in these communities,” Ramaphosa said.
He said security agencies were coordinating their operations through the Provincial Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (PROVJOINTS), which facilitates joint planning, intelligence sharing and integrated deployment.
Ramaphosa said efforts were also being made to strengthen the involvement of other government departments, civil society and affected communities.
He said measures included adjusting deployments according to prevailing crime patterns, implementing the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy and adopting a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.
Independent political analyst Goodenough Mashego questioned whether Operation Prosper could be judged successful based on the SANDF's involvement.
“I don't think the assessment by the president is justified primarily because we cannot judge Operation Prosper from the point of the South African National Defence Force,” Mashego said.
He said the operation needed to be assessed through SAPS units responsible for combating gangsterism, particularly crime intelligence and the anti-gang unit.
“Prosper needs to be judged from the side of the SAPS, the anti-gang unit, the crime intelligence unit, and the other units that are involved in reducing gangsterism, but also in making sure that those communities are safe, that people don't die every weekend,” he said.
Mashego said the SANDF was not trained to combat crime and was deployed to support police operations.
“They are force multipliers,” he said.
“They are there to enhance the capacity of the police to do their job while not looking behind their backs.”
He said the ultimate test of Operation Prosper should be whether authorities could identify and prosecute those directing and benefiting from organised criminal networks.
Mashego said effective intelligence, arrests and prosecutions were necessary to dismantle the criminal structures driving gangsterism.
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