SANDF General says his men are

Chief of South African National Defence Force (SANDF), General Solly Shoke addresses the media in Pretoria on March 25, 2013.

SANDF General says his men are ‘ready to donner’ SA’s gangsters

General Solly Shoke says his guys will take ‘no nonsense’ from criminals in gang hot spots

SANDF General says his men are

Chief of South African National Defence Force (SANDF), General Solly Shoke addresses the media in Pretoria on March 25, 2013.

As the SANDF wait to hear if they’re needed in the fight against gang crime, General Solly Shoke has stated in no uncertain terms just how prepared his soldiers are.

Back in October, Fikile Mbalula touted the possibility of the South African army being deployed to areas that are plagued by gang crime. Although, Chief Mbalula cannot make a final decision without the approval of a man who knows a thing or two about criminal activity: Jacob Zuma.

Gangsters face a ‘donner-ing’ from no-nonsense army

The President hasn’t yet given the green light, but General Shoke has issued a ‘ready when you are’ plea to the government. He promised his men would ‘donner’ gangsters – a term that means to forcefully hit someone:

“We are ready, anywhere, anytime, any direction. Because we donner [hit], AND We don’t take nonsense”. I must say, we are soldiers AND We take orders. We don’t determine what we do. We go anywhere, any direction where the country needs us to go.”

“We’re not trained to combat crime. We are trained to win battles.”

Shoke was making his comments at a press conference in Pretoria yesterday. He and other high-ranking SANDF personnel had gathered to discuss a number of challenges facing this country’s armed forces.

Gang violence has somewhat skyrocketed in recent months, with the Western Cape and Gauteng seeing the most criminal activity. In one particularly gruesome evening in Marikana (Cape Town settlement), 11 people were killed.

Have the SANDF been deployed to the streets before?

Back in 2015, another ‘gangster’s paradise’ saw soldiers deployed to their streets. Manenberg, Western Cape, had an SANDF presence during its most violent period. However, when the army left, gang shootings were happening again within the week.

As with any contentious issues, we’d love to hear your opinions on this one. Do our gangster-riddled streets need patrolling by those who ‘donner first, ask questions later’? Or is bringing soldiers in to do police work simply a losing battle? Get in touch with us via our Facebook comments section