Solutions need cooperation, not just spectacle of soldiers on our street

For years, communities trapped in gang-ridden areas have pleaded for meaningful intervention, convinced that the South African Police Service was simply out of its depth.

As shootings became routine and gang violence claimed lives, calls grew louder for the deployment of the military. The army was seen as the reinforcement needed to reclaim neighbourhoods that appeared to have been surrendered to criminals.

Now that soldiers have arrived, however, we are witnessing repeated instances of interference from some of the very communities they were deployed to protect.

This presents an uncomfortable contradiction: we demand intervention, yet seem reluctant to accept what it may look like.

The confrontation in Tafelsig in Mitchells Plain in Cape Town is disturbing and any soldier who assaults a civilian must answer for it.

But we cannot allow one incident to obscure the larger question confronting communities that begged for military intervention.

For years, residents demanded that government send the army because gangsterism had overwhelmed ordinary policing. Now the soldiers are there, some of the same communities appear unwilling to accept the disruption, confrontation and authority that accompany such an intervention.

If we genuinely want criminals removed from our streets, are we prepared to tolerate the lawful enforcement required to achieve it? Or did we want the spectacle of soldiers without the uncomfortable business of actually reclaiming our neighbourhoods?

We know the people committing the crimes that hold entire communities hostage belong to someone. They are someone’s children, husbands or fathers. They have families, friends and people in these communities who know them and, sometimes, protect them.

But while we may not always agree with those enforcing the law, common sense dictates that we respect the rank and authority of those sent to restore order.

That means understanding that when law enforcement arrives, there must be cooperation. The soldier’s conduct must be scrutinised and where wrongdoing occurred, accountability must follow.

But we cannot ignore that his execution of duty was being interfered with.

We cannot demand soldiers, police and government reclaim communities from criminals, but challenge their authority when they do. Solutions require order, cooperation and accountability – not window-dressing to make us feel safer.