New Delhi, March 17 -- South Africa's president has authorized a yearlong deployment by the army to fight crime in some of the country's violence-stricken areas.

The move has underlined how Africa's leading economy has struggled to reign in its high rates of violent crime.

A look at the deployment by the numbers:

SOLDIERS DEPLOYED: 2,200

South Africa's Constitution requires President Cyril Ramaphosa to advise Parliament of his order to deploy the army. He said in a notice to lawmakers that 2,200 soldiers have been deployed to assist police in law enforcement operations relating to two specific criminal threats: gang-related violence and illegal mining run by criminal syndicates.

DURATION OF DEPLOYMENT: 13 MONTHS

The soldiers will be...