On the surface, soldiers patrolling areas like Riverlea and Eldorado Park may create a sense of order. Armed presence can deter crime temporarily. Yet the question remains: what happens when they leave?

Critics argue that this is a short-term show of force rather than a long-term solution. As defence analyst Ricardo Teixeira put it during his conversation with Phumi Mashigo: “SANDF is not a law enforcement agency. If you send them into the Cape Flats, yeah, they’re gonna keep the area secure while they’re there because they’re gonna … be walking around with their rifles but they’re not trained to arrest people, to interact with the public. They are trained to do combat operations.”

This raises a deeper concern: are we solving crime, or just containing it temporarily? Even more troubling is the internal culture that could undermine the mission itself. Writer Siya Khumalo reflects: “So when I was in the military the one thing you were informally trained to do was to ‘organise’ – read: work the system. Steal. Do what you have to do. Don’t get caught. The moment, the second the criminal elements learn that soldiers are wired like that – game over.”

If this is even partially true, then the deployment risks reinforcing the very systems it’s meant to dismantle. The army might bring temporary calm. But without fixing policing, economic inequality, and social conditions, it risks becoming a visible, but ultimately hollow, intervention.

Watch more of our analysis on the state of South Africa’s defence force, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9czd8764yQ&t=501s