Overview
- Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia confirmed SAPS and SANDF chiefs have finalized a rollout that will start within about ten days and now covers the Eastern Cape as well as the Western Cape and Gauteng.
- The strategy will strengthen Anti-Gang Units and use multi-disciplinary teams drawing in the NPA, SIU and SARS, with an Organised Crime Advisory Council to guide implementation.
- Analysts and civic groups point to a 2019 Operation Prosper evaluation showing only short-term gains and question the military’s capacity and constitutional fit, even as some political leaders welcome the move.
- Key operational details, including cost, force size, specific deployment sites and duration, have not been disclosed and are still being finalized.
- A shooting in Athlone on Tuesday night left a nine-month-old child and two women dead, highlighting the urgency of interventions as police pursue the suspects.