Expect to get killed if you point a gun at a soldier in Cape Town or Gauteng
South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Bantu Holomisa, warned that people should not point a gun at soldiers.
His warning followed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address to a Joint Sitting of the two Houses of Parliament on Thursday, 12 February 2026.
During his address, Ramaphosa announced numerous interventions to combat crime and gang violence.
One of the interventions is deploying the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to support the police, as the state did with great effect in tackling illegal mining.
“I have directed the Minister of Police and the SANDF to develop a tactical plan on where our security forces should be deployed,” he said.
The focus will be on the Western Cape and Gauteng to deal with gang violence and illegal mining.
“I will inform the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces regarding the timing and place of deployment of our soldiers and what it will cost,” he said.
Ramaphosa added that the government, the South African police, and the military have to act to rid our country of gang violence.
“At the same time, we are implementing an integrated strategy to address the root causes of crime,” he said.
This will be done through coordinated interventions across society, from street lighting to access to social services.
Commenting on the deployment of the military to civilian areas, Holomisa thanks the government of national unity (GNU) for prioritizing security.
He said the President’s plan was thoroughly discussed in late 2025 and early 2026 and that the Department of Defence is currently planning the rollout of soldiers.
“The responsibility is now on the ministries of the different departments to sit down and start implementing that plan,” he said.
He added that the Department of Defence is already planning the deployment of soldiers to carry out their work as instructed by the President.
“We are waiting for Parliament to give the instruction to move in. Within two weeks, we will be deploying troops working with the police,” he said.
He told the people of South Africa that the National Defence Force would require their cooperation, adding a stern warning.
“Nobody should point a gun at a soldier, because we will be there doing a job. If you shoot at a soldier, you will put us in trouble,” he said.
This followed a previous warning from the Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans against pointing a gun at a soldier.
“We won’t play. Never point a firearm at soldiers. We’re not the police,” Holomisa said in a previous interview.
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The problem is that 1. WC SAPS riddled with corruption, to the top 2. densely populated area, innocent people are gonna die. 3. the gangs will employ snipers to take out individual soldiers, inviting revenge attacks by SANDF 4. Soldiers are not trained to search personnel/houses/cars etc.
Best way is to bring down a dedicated team of good cops, and then use SANDF to throw a cordon around sections of the gang-infested areas. No-one to enter or leave, no vehicle movement. Use drone surveillance to check for movement of possible gang members. Then use the dedicated unit of cops to search every single house, and take every single firearm for ballistic testing (if it’s clean of crime, you can get it back). Check every single household and document who lives there etc. If you begin doing this randomly the criminals will begin to get the messsage v. quickly. Even do some areas twice to get the guns they move back in after the search. These searches will turn up loads of criminal activity, counterfeit goods, the contraband economy, guns, knives, stolen goods & cars, illegal immigrants, people on the wanted list etc. The army is there to prevent any movement in or out until the house-to-house searches are completed.