South Africa has deployed its military to combat gang violence and illegal mining under President Cyril Ramaphosa's Operation Prosper, targeting hotspots in the Western Cape and Gauteng. But is armed force a genuine solution or just a short-term fix?

Mark Shaw, Executive Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GITOC), joins the Index podcast to break down what Operation Prosper means for South Africa, how it compares to past military deployments and global examples like El Salvador and Guatemala, and what success or failure will actually look like.

To learn more about organized crime in South Africa, visit the Organized Crime Index: ocindex.net