Deployment of soldiers to curb illegal mining is having an impact, SANDF tells MPs

CAPE TOWN - The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) says it believes the deployment of soldiers to curb illegal mining is having an impact, as evidenced by the situation unfolding in the North West. 

Underground miners have been in a standoff with police in Stilfontein for several days. 

However, the department of defence said that the deployment of soldiers as part of Operation Prosper was posing a strain on an already underfunded force.

At its first meeting of this administration on Friday, Parliament's joint standing committee on defence was asked to approve this latest extension of the operation by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The defence force said that while it's still unclear where the more than R140 million would come from to extend its deployment of 1,100 soldiers under Operation Prosper until March, communities living close to abandoned mining shafts were reaping the benefits.  

Lieutenant-General Siphiwe Sangweni leads the joint operation in six provinces where illegal mining is prevalent.

"We've been able to create a space for the department of mineral and petroleum resources to close some of the shafts. The communities in some of those areas are now able to sleep. There is progress, there are successes."

But he said that while the SANDF's main job was to safeguard the country's borders, deployments such as this one was causing additional strain on the force. 

"We do not have adequate numbers, meaning boots on the ground, as well as we are struggling with capabilities, meaning equipment."

The department said that while the first phase of Operation Prosper was grossly underfunded, no allocations had been made for the second and now this third extension of deployment.  

The department of defence said it overspent on the first term deployment by R200 million, having received just R150 million.