South Africa deploys troops in Johannesburg to tackle organized crime

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Soldiers were deployed on the streets of South Africa’s biggest city on Wednesday after the president announced plans to use the army in several provinces in Africa's leading economy to help police fight gang violence and illegal mining.

Soldiers were seen in the Johannesburg suburb of Riverlea in the first major deployment since President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his annual speech to the nation last month that he would use the army against organized crime, which he called the greatest threat to democracy and the country's economic development.

An Associated Press reporter saw a convoy of more than a dozen military vehicles move through the Riverlea suburb, with soldiers jumping out the vehicles to enter some apartment blocks. Riverlea is one area of Johannesburg affected by both gang-related violence and illegal mining.

South Africa's police and the Department of Defense, which oversees the military, did not immediately provide details on the deployment.

The authorities had previously said the military deployment in different parts of the country would start on March 1, but it was delayed while soldiers were given training in law enforcement protocols. The army will operate under police command during the deployment.

Ramaphosa said in a notice to the Speaker of Parliament that 550 soldiers would be involved in an initial deployment in the Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, to help combat crime and preserve law and order. That deployment would last until the end of April, he said.

The government plans a wider deployment in five of its nine provinces, according to details submitted by police to Parliament. The deployment will focus on illegal mining in the Gauteng, North West and Free State provinces, and gang violence in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces.

Parts of the national deployment could last more than a year, police officials said.

South Africa has high rates of violent crime. Police reported 6,351 homicides from October to December 2025, an average of nearly 70 a day in a country of around 62 million people, while there are also high numbers of attempted murders and violent assaults.

Ramaphosa identified gang violence and illegal mining as especially problematic and connected them both to organized crime. Some of the other areas identified for army deployment included the neighborhoods in and around South Africa's top tourist city of Cape Town, which have been notorious for years for gang-related violence.

There was no immediate indication if Wednesday's deployment included other parts of the country the president said would be targeted.

South Africa has deployed the army several times in recent years to help with outbursts of crime and disorder, including in 2021, when riots and looting in two provinces sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma and frustrations over COVID-19 lockdowns led to the deaths of more than 350 people.

Ramaphosa has said that this deployment of soldiers was carefully considered given the army was used to crush pro-democracy protests during South Africa's decades of enforced racial segregation under the apartheid system, which ended in 1994.

He said the deployment had “become necessary due to a surge in violent organized crime that threatens the safety of our people and the authority of the state.”

The deployment has largely been welcomed, though some political parties have said it is an admission that police have largely failed to curb crime.

Associated Press writer Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa contributed.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

South African National Defense Forces deploy in the Riverlea township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

South African National Defense Forces deploy in the Riverlea township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

South African National Defense Forces deploy in the Riverlea township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

South African National Defense Forces deploy in the Riverlea township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

South African National Defense Forces deploy in the RIverlea township of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — There could be another McAuliffe representing Virginia soon.

Dorothy McAuliffe — the former first lady, onetime state department official and wife of then-Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe — said Wednesday that she will run for Congress, putting a prominent name into the mix for a newly drawn district.

“We need a leader who has a record of delivering and can finally bring down costs for families, who will increase access to affordable healthcare, and who will never back down from holding Donald Trump and ICE accountable,” McAuliffe said in a statement.

Virginia voters are weighing a constitutional amendment that would create a new congressional map on April 21.

If the map is approved, McAuliffe would campaign to represent the sprawling 7th District, which stretches from Arlington to western Augusta County. Most of the district's voters would live just outside Washington, D.C., and it's one of four new districts that are intended to favor Democrats.

“I look forward to traveling this district — from Arlington to Augusta and Prince William to Powhatan — and sharing that vision for this community that I’ve long called home,” she said.

An attorney and mother of five, McAuliffe was Virginia's first lady from 2014 to 2018. During that time, she pushed for childhood nutrition programs and helped tackle a backlog of untested rape kits in the state.

In 2017, the former first lady weighed challenging former Republican U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock, though opted against a bid. She became the U.S. State Department’s special representative for global partnerships in 2022 under President Joe Biden's administration.

McAuliffe is entering a crowded primary. Last month, four-term Virginia Del. Dan Helmer and former federal prosecutor J.P. Cooney, who served as a deputy to special counsel Jack Smith and was fired by Trump, launched campaigns in the district. State Del. Elizabeth Guzman, who was elected the first Latina immigrant in the General Assembly, also said she was weighing a run.

McAuliffe and other candidates would have an opportunity to change their plans if the redistricting effort is not approved or is thrown out by the state Supreme Court.

The spelling of McAuliffe has been corrected in one reference.

FILE - Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe hugs his wife, Dorothy during a rally in Richmond, Va., Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. McAuliffe will face Republican Glenn Youngkin in the November election. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

FILE - Dorothy McAuliffe speaks during a campaign event for her husband Virginia democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe at Lubber Run Park, July 23, 2021, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)