Soldiers are to be sent to gang-ridden areas in the Western Cape and other parts of the country by Christmas‚ says Police Minister Fikile Mbalula. "It is going to happen. We are processing it in terms of the operational plan. Thereafter [President Jacob Zuma] will give us the green light. It will happen before Christmas‚" he told a briefing at the Philippi East police station in Cape Town on Wednesday. Mbalula said the South African National Defence Force did not do police work so soldiers would have to be linked to an operation for a specific period. "We do not want society to feel under siege‚ that the army has arrived. So we want the police and the police generals to work out a plan. And when the President signs‚ he must sign knowing where the army is going and for how long and for which operations. They will be deployed in specific hotspots‚ here in the Western Cape‚ and we’ll probably add the Eastern Cape‚ parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. The operation will be police-led‚" s...
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