Boots of the ground as army tackles Johannesburg's crime gangs
It's the first major deployment since President Cyril Ramaphosa said that organized crime was the greatest threat to South Africa’s democracy and economic development.
Soldiers were deployed on the streets of South Africa’s biggest city on Wednesday after the president announced plans last month to use the army to help police fight gang violence and illegal mining.
The soldiers were seen in the Johannesburg suburb of Riverlea in the first major deployment since President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his annual speech to the nation that organized crime was the greatest threat to South Africa’s democracy and economic development.
South Africa's police and the Department of Defense, which oversees the military, did not immediately provide details on the deployment.
The country's high murder rate of around 60 deaths a day includes killings in wars between drug gangs in areas of Cape Town and mass shootings linked to illegal mining in Johannesburg's Gauteng province.