The South African Policing Union (Sapu) said deploying SANDF in the Western Cape was never a good idea and that policing needed to be relooked in the province.

The army was deployed a month ago to provide support to police. However, there have still been a number of gang-related murders.

Last weekend there were 47 murders recorded by forensics services. Weekends are an anxious time for residents in Mitchells Plain and Manenberg.

The deployment of the SANDF was meant to change things in gang-plagued areas, but a month on there is still ongoing violence in various parts of Cape Town, including Delft and Hanover Park.

Sapu’s Tumelo Mogodiseng said the army was not the solution to addressing violent crime.

“We need a permanent solution for the Western Cape, not a temporary solution.”

The union called for the re-establishment of various specialised units, including the Sanab drug unit, along with murder and robbery units.