What does it mean when a country resorts to military intervention in an attempt to address violence and criminal activity within its domestic sphere? Is this an admission of failure by the police? Or a failure of the capacity of the criminal justice system to diligently investigate, prosecute and convict where necessary? What exactly is South Africa ineptly admitting to, here?
Is there an expectation of peace after the military intervention? Who will craft and design that peace? Remember, in a military intervention, there are always winners and losers. Who then will emerge as winner? Who will lose? In my view, it is an uncalculated gamble. A zero sum game, altogether. It, therefore, seems less prudent for the state, in 2019, to still consider military intervention as a plausible solution to quell the gang-related violence in the Cape Flats. The less calculated resolve to resort to instilling fear and silencing citizens instead of finding solutions to address pervasive societal ills — mainly caused by systematic inequalities, poverty and unemployment — is of much concern.
This is even more so for marginalised groups. In most instances, these are women and girls, who often find themselves at the receiving end of the violence. This is because when violence manifests, it does not only do so through the exchange of gunfire but in other forms. These include rape, sexual abuse, domestic violence and murder. These are some of the repercussions or after effects of violence and a system where the rule of law is being compromised.
The existence of gang violence in South Africa, particularly in Cape Town, is an indication of underlying structural and systemic challenges that need to be addressed. It is critical for the state to understand why communities resort to violence and gangsterism as a language of communication to effectively address challenges and transform communities.
Finally, as South Africa is currently in the process of finalising an implementation framework on United Nations Resolution 1325, which specifically calls for gendered responses to peace and security, the country cannot surely afford to drop the ball at this point.
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