WC troop deployment: 'We want the element of surprise'
Western Cape MEC for Community Safety Albert Fritz remains tight-lipped on the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) troops.
In his budget speech, Police Minister Bheki Cele announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa had given the go-ahead for the troops to offer support to the police in crime-ridden areas in Cape Town.
The troops will be in 10 areas: Bishop Lavis, Mitchells Plain, Delft, Elsies River, Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Philippi, Kraaifontein and Manenberg.
The troops began arriving in Cape Town on Friday.
However, Fritz says they want the element of surprise.
"We do not want to give any information on when they are going to be deployed because we really want the biggest impact and the element of surprise is the most important component of that impact.
"If we announce this all the time - I think it was a bit of a mistake of the minister to announce last Thursday that they are deploying the army in any case. I think it gives the gangster the opportunity to disappear."
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