South Africa's Army Deployed to Combat Skyrocketing Crime

0:00It's April 1st. You're listening to Global News today, AI-powered coverage from around the world. I'm Cory with the story. South Africa's army just rolled out 2,200 soldiers to five hard-hit provinces to back up police against skyrocketing violent crime. Like gang wars and illegal mining, this one-year push kicked off with an initial squad hitting gotten province, home to Johannesburg, back in March, targeting spots like El Dorado Park. It rolled with gang shootouts. Now the main force deploys from April 1st across Eastern Cape, Free State, Northwest, and Western Cape aiming to restore some calm in these chaos, zones. Folks on the ground have mixed feelings. Some parents save patrols, bring a quick sense of safety for families, but others fear it'll amp up the tension, or fizzle out once troops bounce. Experts point to pass flops, like deployments for riots in 2021 or mining crackdowns last year, warning soldiers aren't built for.

1:00Street-level policing and could spark more trouble without fixing root causes, lipoverty and distressed from apartheid days. Until leaders tackle that, expect these cycles to keep spinning.