Police ask SANDF for help

2008-05-21 14:54

Johannesburg - The Safety and Security Ministry has asked the SA National Defence Force to help supply equipment, but not troops, to help control xenophobic attacks, a ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

"We can confirm that the Minister has been in touch with his counterpart but it is not in terms of manpower," said Safety and Security spokesperson Trevor Bloem.

"There has been no special request in terms of manpower, however, there are efforts for the military maybe to assist in terms of equipment. We are not asking the military to send troops out to these areas."

The request had not been finalised yet.

Bloem did not have details of the type of equipment requested.

Shortly after the attacks began, there were calls for the army to assist the police, who were bolstered by specialised units this week.

Asked about the possible deployment of the army, Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad said: "Once our security cluster has made an assessment of the security needs, we will decide.

"We will await a report from them. Obviously, you're calling the army if the police are unable to cope.

"As far as I know, we are not there yet but we will await the report from our security cluster," he told reporters at the International Media Forum in Johannesburg.

He said the decision to deploy the army would be a joint one between the Ministers of Safety and Security and Defence and the SA Police Service.

- SAPA