12/02/2026
PRESS STATEMENT
For Immediate Release
12 February 2026
Welcomes SANDF Deployment to Cape Town and Calls for a Whole-of-Government Response
Cape Town – welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement in the 2026 State of the Nation Address regarding the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to assist law-enforcement agencies in the Western Cape, particularly in Cape Town, where communities continue to experience daily violence, gang activity, and the loss of innocent lives.
For communities that have lived under siege for years, this deployment represents a necessary intervention to stabilise areas plagued by organised crime and gun violence. Any measure that contributes to restoring safety, protecting lives, and reclaiming public spaces is welcomed by residents who have endured the devastating social and human costs of gangsterism.
However, emphasises that the SANDF deployment cannot be viewed as a permanent or standalone solution. While security interventions are important, they do not address the underlying conditions that give rise to gangsterism and violent crime.
Gang violence is deeply rooted in long-standing socioeconomic challenges, including poverty, unemployment, inequality, substance abuse, inadequate housing, failing schools, and limited access to economic opportunities. These structural realities continue to trap generations of young people in cycles of violence and criminality.
For the SANDF deployment to have a meaningful and lasting impact, it must be accompanied by a collective, coordinated, and holistic response from all spheres of government.
In this regard, calls on the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Provincial Government to urgently fulfil their constitutional mandates by strengthening interventions in social development, youth empowerment, education, substance-abuse treatment, economic inclusion, housing delivery, and community-based safety programmes.
Law-enforcement efforts must be matched with sustained investment in prevention, rehabilitation, and development. Without this, communities risk returning to the same conditions once security deployments are withdrawn.
The SANDF deployment may create the immediate breathing space our communities desperately need. But only a sustained, whole-of-government approach will dismantle the root causes of gangsterism and ensure safer, more dignified, and opportunity-rich communities.
remains committed to working with government, civil society, and affected communities to end gangsterism and restore hope where it has been eroded for far too long.
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