News24 | DEAD GROUND | War on the Cape Flats: ‘What do we do when the soldiers leave?’

The effectiveness of previous operations is unclear. Reductions in violence were short-lived, and killings rebounded as the deployments ran out of steam or came to a complete end. Following the 2019 deployment and the ensuing Covid-19 lockdown, murders on the Cape Flats surged to some of the highest levels on record.

Those same elevated levels gave rise to Operation Prosper, which, on a national level, is also targeting illegal mining and gangsterism in the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, and North West.

The deployment is expected to last until 31 March 2027 at a cost of R823 million, with some 2 200 SANDF members on the ground.

Quarterly crime statistics, including the first three months of Operation Prosper’s deployment, show mixed results.

Some policing precincts, like Manenberg, recorded a drop in murders. Others, like Philippi precinct, which includes Hanover Park, recorded a higher murder rate than the previous quarter. These fluctuations are present across the Cape Flats.

On the whole, the slight overall year-on-year decline in murders – 6.7% down provincially and roughly 12% lower on the Cape Flats – is difficult to attribute solely to Operation Prosper.