South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government will send troops into communities to back police efforts against illegal mining and gang violence in provinces that include the two biggest cities: Gauteng and the Western Cape. He made the announcement during his annual State of the Nation address in Parliament, positioning the move as part of a broader response to organized criminal activity.
Ramaphosa told lawmakers that “organized crime is now the most immediate threat to our democracy,” and said it endangers both economic stability and public safety. He linked the threat to what he described as the human impact of gang violence and mining-related criminality, including violence involving firearms and the displacement of people affected by armed groups.
In remarks to Parliament, Ramaphosa said, “Children here in the Western Cape are caught in the crossfire of gang wars,” while also adding that “People are chased out of their homes by illegal miners in Gauteng.” He said the government is prioritizing intelligence driven by technology and coordinated law enforcement aimed at criminal syndicates in response to rising crime and its effects on people’s lives.
Ramaphosa said authorities in South Africa have long struggled to stop gangs of miners from entering some of the country’s 6,000 closed or abandoned mines to search for remaining reserves. He said the miners are referred to as “zama zamas” and that, according to the government, they are typically armed, undocumented foreign nationals involved in crime syndicates.
The president also cited losses tied to the illegal gold trade, saying that South Africa lost over $3 billion in gold in 2024. He said the government’s plan is now focused on targeting the syndicates behind illegal mining and the violence associated with it, rather than addressing only the immediate incidents.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with an average of around 63 killings per day in 2025, Ramaphosa said. Authorities have said guns are the most commonly used weapon, and illegal firearms are used in many crimes despite stringent rules governing gun ownership.
Alongside the troop deployment, Ramaphosa said South Africa is hiring an additional 5,500 police officers. He said the country’s Minister of Police and the South African National Defence Force have been tasked with developing a technical plan to deploy security forces within the next few days to address the combined challenge of gang violence and illegal mining.
Ramaphosa also pointed to the government’s ongoing probe into criminality, political interference and corruption in South Africa’s criminal justice system, which began holding hearings in September 2025. He said witnesses in that process have described police abuse of power and corruption, and he said he appointed the commission after public outcry over allegations by a top police official that police and justice systems had been infiltrated by criminal syndicates.