‘Residents are prisoners in their homes’: EC premier to ask Ramaphosa for military intervention

The office of Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane has called for urgent action in Gqeberha, saying the city’s northern areas are facing escalating gang violence that warrants army support.

The premier’s office plans to formally ask the Presidency to deploy the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to help local police – a move prompted by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent State of the Nation Address.

In his address, Ramaphosa announced army deployments in the Western Cape and Gauteng but made no mention of the Eastern Cape despite the fact that there there have long been calls for military intervention to curb gang-related crime in Gqeberha.

The President said he had directed Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia and the SANDF to develop a tactical plan for where security forces should be deployed within the next few days in the Western Cape and Gauteng to deal with gang violence and illegal mining.

However, it remains unclear whether similar interventions will be extended to the Eastern Cape, particularly Gqeberha’s crime-ravaged northern areas. Residents there say they live in constant fear, with gang activity so pervasive that many feel like prisoners in their own homes.

Daily Maverick sent questions to the Presidency’s office on Friday to ask why interventions to fight gangs were deployed to Western Cape and Gauteng but not Gqeberha. No response has been received yet.

Read more: Police not ready to combat ‘growing gangs’ — Cachalia

During a visit to Gqeberha in January 2026, Cachalia admitted that the police were ill-equipped to root out gangsterism, saying: “I do not believe that we are currently in a position to defeat these gangs.”

He also said that a similar pattern is emerging between the gang-related killing sprees in the Western and Eastern Cape.

Speaking on behalf of Mabuyane, provincial spokesperson Sonwabo Mbananga said the level of violence in Gqeberha’s northern areas had reached alarming proportions and warranted the same intervention Ramaphosa had mentioned would be on the cards for the Western Cape.

“The situation in the northern areas of Gqeberha is extremely serious, particularly in terms of gang-related violence and its profound impact on the social and human conditions of the region,” Mbananga said.

He added: “The premier believes that the crime statistics provide clear evidence that the South African Police Service (SAPS) is struggling to manage the situation on its own, and that additional support is necessary.

“Subsequent to the President’s announcement last night during the State of the Nation Address, the provincial government will be pursuing the matter further with the Presidency.”

Read more: Parliamentary oversight visit reveals shocking state of Nelson Mandela Bay’s elite police units

According to Mbananga, Mabuyane’s office is of the view that the Eastern Cape, especially Gqeberha’s northern areas, should have been considered for the deployment of the SANDF to help combat gang activity.

Helenvale resident and community activist Rina Potgieter said the President’s failure to also prioritise the Eastern Cape – in particular the northern areas – is indicative of the lack of care for people living in the those areas who are being terrorised as a result of gangsterism.

“This means we can die like flies,” she said. “The President does not care about us and has zero regard for us. We need the army to control the children and young people who are so trigger happy. Every day we see people being shot dead. It was disappointing that the army was not sent here as well.”

Potgieter described a community living in constant fear, particularly in Helenvale, which has long been associated with gang activity.

“The northern areas are suffering under violence, especially gang activity. There is almost a shooting every day. Not a day goes by in our lives – especially here in Helenvale – without us hearing gunshots,” she said.

“Every single day that the Lord gives us, we live in fear. The gangsters are not afraid of community members, and they are not afraid of the police. They don’t care, and they run around with firearms in broad daylight and even shoot at each other.”

Residents, she said, feel trapped in their own homes – so much so that they feel like prisoners.

“We are prisoners in our own homes. Our children can no longer play outside because shootings can happen at any time. It is not safe or pleasant to live here at all. The community is living normal lives in abnormal circumstances.”

Potgieter said calls for residents to report crime to the police ring hollow in a context where witnesses are allegedly targeted.

She said that while residents are often told to report crime to the police, it opens them up to being victims of crime themselves.

“Residents are no longer willing to report crime, because there is nothing and no one to guarantee their safety. Here in Helenvale, many people who were witnesses in court cases are now dead.

She added that trust in law enforcement had eroded.

“People are not eager to work with the police because there are police officers who work with gangsters,” she said.

Read more: Police portfolio committee asks for urgent bail policy reform for gang crimes

The DA in the Eastern Cape has also accused Ramaphosa of showing “little value” for the lives of residents in the northern areas and for turning a blind eye.

Yusuf Cassim, DA MPL and northern areas constituency leader, expressed dismay after the the President announced plans to deploy the military to support police operations in the Western Cape and Gauteng against gang activity but not the Eastern Cape.

Cassim said: “Communities in the northern areas, alongside the Democratic Alliance, have long called for priority intervention to fight out-of-control gangsterism in the northern areas, yet the President turns a blind eye.

“Sending in the army would offer only short-term relief, but it would bring much-needed stability to an area that has, for all intents and purposes, become a war zone.”

Cassim pointed out that Parliament had already recognised the severity of the crisis when, in July 2025, it adopted a report arising from a DA petition calling for urgent national priority intervention in Nelson Mandela Bay.

The report directed the SAPS to address the collapse of the Anti-Gang Unit and Crime Intelligence capacity, with progress reports and strengthened national oversight.

Despite these binding parliamentary resolutions, Cassim said, “nothing followed”.

Cassim also criticised the President for ignoring concerns raised after Cachalia visited the metro following a request made by DA mayoral candidate Retief Odendaal in September 2025.

“The acting minister himself said the gang violence mirrored the crisis in the Western Cape, yet the President snubbed the northern areas for military intervention,” Cassim said.

In December 2025, the Eastern Cape legislature adopted his motion to establish a permanent 24-hour joint operations centre to coordinate the SAPS, Metro Police, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation and the National Prosecuting Authority.

On Sunday, 15 Febuary, the DA said it would be holding a rally to ask the President: “Do our lives not matter?”

The rally in front of the Gelvandale Police Station in Gqeberha, will be led by Cassim, DA Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate Retief Odendaal and the DA’s Eastern Cape provincial spokesperson, councillor Georgina Faldtman. DM