Africa-Press. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told parliament that South Africa will deploy the army to combat organized crime, and will pursue criminal charges against municipal officials who fail to provide water to communities.
Rising crime and water shortages are among the issues fueling voter anger as South Africa approaches municipal elections due later this year, where the African National Congress (ANC), one of the governing parties, is expected to suffer a further drop in its share of the vote.
Organized crime has made South Africa one of the most dangerous countries in the world in peacetime, with an average of more than 20,000 murders a year in a country of about 63 million people.
Organized crime “the biggest threat”
In his annual state-of-the-nation address, Ramaphosa said “organized crime is now the biggest and most urgent threat to our democracy, our society, and our economic development.”
He added: “Our primary focus this year is to intensify the fight against organized crime and criminal gangs.”
Troops to be deployed in Western Cape and Gauteng
Ramaphosa said troops would initially be deployed in the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces, two areas severely affected by gang violence.
He said he instructed the police minister and the military to provide further details within days.
Protests over water shortages
On the worsening water crisis caused by a drier climate and repeated maintenance problems in water pipelines, Ramaphosa said “water outages are a symptom of a local governance system that is not working.” He added: “We will hold accountable anyone who neglects their responsibility to provide water to our people.”
Residents in Johannesburg, the country’s largest city, held sporadic protests this week after some neighborhoods went without water for more than 20 days.
