Unprecedented levels of military activity deployed to secure infrastructure

Craig Kotze

Vaal crime syndicates are running for cover this week  as unprecedented levels of intelligence and military activity are deployed to both secure water and related infrastructure and prepare for an expected top-level tour of the Minister of Defence and Executive Mayor Jacob Khawe.

Although actual anti-pollution deployment of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) in the Vaal was expected on Sunday 18 November, this did not take place. Vaalweekblad has learned from intelligence sources this was largely due to security issues and not necessarily the official reason that administrative issues  were holding up deployment.
The Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) under leadership of Municipal Manager Oupa Nkoane is providing full logistical and other support for the SA Army deployment including a temporary base to house them. The Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) also welcomed the SA Army deployment. Rosemary Anderson, owner of Stone Haven and GTCoC project coordinator on Vaal River pollution, said: “We welcome our Army with open arms and will give them every support we can”. High levels of intelligence and military activity is already destabilising organised criminal activity in the Vaal , intelligence sources tol Vaalweekblad. “We must keep criminal elements off balance as to exact timing of deployments as much as we need to deter their activities against strategic infrastructure,” a number of intelligence sources told Vaalweekblad this week. The intelligence and SA Army deployments are also expected to have a major beneficial effect on the Vaal security and crime situation as the Festive Season approaches and is expected to benefit the region in this regard for many months. Both the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nquakula and Emfuleni Executive Mayor Jacob Khawe are expected to meet in the Vaal on Friday 23 November and tour affected infrastructure sites.
An official media statement was still expected in this regard but had not been issued at time of going to publication. Unprecedented levels of undercover intelligence activity – from a spectrum of state agencies and also the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) Safety and Security Department – has been taking place in the Vaal in preparation for both Army deployment, the high-level visit and related operations. This is to both conduct official risk assessments as well as to gather relevant intelligence on the task of securing infrastructure – involving the deployment of intelligence assets almost as large as the actual deployment of military personnel, sources informed Vaalweekblad. Military Intelligence, the State Security Agency, the ELM Safety and Security department as well as the Crime Intelligence division of the SA Police Service are said to be involved and coordinating their efforts for the anti-pollution project, expected to last at least a year. As many as 400 Army personnel are expected to be deployed still this week to protect at least 46 strategic infrastructure sites in the Vaal as a precursor to then tackling the actual pollution spillage crisis in the Vaal River system , assisted by a range of government and other experts.
The site of the Vanderbijlpark temporary SA Army base from which deployments across Emfuleni will be conducted is known to Vaalweekblad but is not yet being published due to security reasons. The military intervention has been welcomed by civil society and the business community as a stabilisation step to a permanent solution and was first discussed earlier this month between the GTCoC and other interest groups and the SANDF.