Malema made the remarks during the parliamentary debate on Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address earlier this week.
Ramaphosa announced last week that soldiers would be sent to high‑crime zones in the Gauteng and Western Cape provinces to help police combat illegal mining and gang violence. The move follows years of rising concern over violent criminal networks, including zama zamas operating in abandoned mine shafts and armed gangs terrorising communities.
Malema delivered a fierce critique of Ramaphosa’s leadership, saying the SANDF deployment is evidence of the government’s failure to strengthen policing.
“Under your term, crime is out of control, and your deployment of the army is the last resort. You are admitting that you have failed to fight crime,” he told the President.
“The people of Gauteng have been terrorised for too long by the so‑called zama zamas. On the deployment of the army, we have no choice but to support you, because you have destroyed law enforcement capacity.”
Malema questioned how the military would effectively assist the SA Police Service when the Defence Force itself has been weakened by years of budget reductions. “Our concern is how you deploy the military, which has been crippled by austerity measures to fight crime,” he said.
–SABC/ChannelAfrica–
