Soldiers took to the streets of Johannesburg on Wednesday following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement last month that the army would assist police in tackling gang violence and illegal mining.
The deployment was first observed in the Riverlea suburb and marks the initial major military operation since Ramaphosa described organized crime as the greatest threat to South Africa’s democracy and economic growth in his annual national address.
Neither the South African Police Service nor the Department of Defense immediately released specifics about the operation.
In a notice to the Speaker of Parliament, Ramaphosa stated that 550 soldiers would be part of the first deployment in Gauteng, including Johannesburg, aimed at curbing crime and maintaining law and order. The initial operation is scheduled to continue until the end of April.
Authorities plan a broader rollout across five of South Africa’s nine provinces, targeting illegal mining in Gauteng, North West, and Free State, while focusing on gang violence in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape, according to police submissions to Parliament.
Some elements of the national deployment could extend beyond a year, officials indicated.
South Africa continues to face high levels of violent crime, with police reporting 6,351 homicides between October and December 2025 an average of nearly 70 deaths per day in a country of approximately 62 million people.