SANDF deployment: More than 450 soldiers deployed to Gauteng

Gauteng has been allocated more than 450 soldiers to tackle the rising scourge of illegal mining and gangsterism in the province.

Premier Panyaza Lesufi shared the news during the State of the Province Address (SOPA) at the Nasrec expo centre in Johannesburg on Monday.

Earlier this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) would be deployed to Gauteng to assist law enforcement in tackling zama zamas.

The deployment comes after more than 600 people from the Sporong informal settlement in the West Rand were chased away from their homes by the illegal miners.

Lesufi said the army has already been deployed to Sporong and other areas identified as hotspots for illegal mining.

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“The ongoing illegal mining affects the communities of West Rand, Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Sedibeng Districts. Dangerous syndicates use high-calibre weapons such as AK-47s to conduct hostile takeovers of illegal mining sites. Government will put a stop to this terror and protect the law-abiding residents of this province.

We welcome the President’s directive to deploy the SANDF to Gauteng to stamp out illegal mining and rising gang violence. We are pleased that these soldiers have already arrived in our province. I want to announce to you, we have allocated over 450 soldiers to come and assist us to stamp out illegal mining and rising gang violence in our province. We urge our president to keep these soldiers for long so that we can be safe in our province,” Lesufi said.