“We Can Not Fold Our Arms When People Are Not Safe In Diepsloot.”
29 January 2020
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EWN|Following concerns of high levels of crime in Diepsloot, Police Minister Bheki Cele deployed a special operations team last Friday.

Since detective Oupa Matjie was fatally shot during a police operation in the area earlier this month, there have been heightened tensions over safety concerns in the area.

Protesting residents have blamed undocumented migrants for Matjie’s murder and for the crime in the area.

Bongani Bingwa shines the spotlight on Diepsloot in finding out whether what is happening there is xenophobia or just criminality.

He chats to the area’s African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) chairperson Loyiso Toyiya, community activist Sicelo Shezi and Wits University associate professor Loren Landau.

There has been a lot of crime issues in Diepsloot and as a result, the community decided to go to the streets and raise its concerns. The concerns raised by the community are genuine concerns as we cannot fold our arms when people are no longer safe in Diepsloot.— 

Sicelo Shezi, Community activist – Diepsloot

Toyiya says people from the outside don’t understand the frustrations that the community is facing with undocumented migrants.

When a crime is reported, you hear that people cannot be traced as those committing these crimes are in the country illegally.— 

Loyiso Toyiya, Diepsloot chairperson – ANCYL

Many of these concerns are real, not only in Diepsloot but in other areas in South Africa, Landau explains.

Listen below to the full conversation: