MENSE on the Cape Flats welcomed the deployment of the army, that started last Wednesday, but mixed feelings remain about whether this will have any impact.

During a joint parade in Belhar last Tuesday, Deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili said Operation Prosper, bringing together the SAPS, SANDF, and the City of Cape Town, in a show of coordinated force, was fully prepared.

The City’s Mayco Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, joined them in Mitchells Plain on Saturday evening to assess the integration. 

Smith said that it is clear to see that the units are already working well together. 

He said: “With the SANDF now as additional support to SAPS, along with our LEAP officers, it allows for the sufficient required resources to follow up on intel received and to arrest those criminals that have been identified.”

Cape Flats Safety Forum chairperson, Abie Isaacs, said: “We have observed in affected areas that the community have been accepting them. 

“We call on communities to assist these agencies in rooting out crime. We would only be able to see the impact after 21 days.”

Others weren’t so convinced.

Mitchells Plain Residents United Association (MURA) chairperson, Michael Jacobs added: “We have seen that while the army has been deployed to our areas, gang shootings and gang killings still continue with impunity. 

“There’s concern in our communities that even the presence of the army is not bringing any relief when it comes to gang shootings and gang killings.”

Chairperson of the Bishop Lavis Crime Prevention Forum (BLCPF), Graham Lindhorst, said: “We can confirm that the army is received with mixed feelings by community members. 

“They are welcomed by some members who feel it creates a sense of safety, whilst other members are sceptical about the deployment, fearing hard-handedness by law enforcement.”

Fight Against Crime SA said that things may get worse before they get better. 

A statement read: “Yes, violence may spike under pressure. That doesn’t mean deployment doesn’t work. It means pressure is finally being applied.”