IOL|Residents of Diepsloot took to the streets last week, calling for the removal of foreign nationals in the area. A police captain was fatally shot a fortnight ago, allegedly by foreign nationals. Nokuthula Mbatha African News Agency (ANA) SA Police Minister Bheki Cele has set up a special operations team to tackle policing concerns raised by residents from Diepsloot, a township north of Johannesburg.
Cele held a meeting with leaders representing the Diepsloot community on Friday, after violent protests engulfed the township following the death of a police captain in the area.
Captain Oupa Matjie was gunned down a fortnight ago in pursuit of suspects. The community took to the streets claiming that foreigners committed the most violent crimes in the densely populated township. They told Cele that many were allegedly undocumented and therefore escaped the law.
“Yes it has been confirmed that the four suspects that have been arrested for this heinous crime are undocumented foreign nationals from Zimbabwe, this has been checked by the department of home affairs,” Cele said.
“We also made an undertaking that the officials from the Department of Home Affairs immigration services should work with these teams so we have a clearer picture of the status of people in this township. But this is not to say the focus is on foreign nationals only, we will be hard on criminality regardless of nationality.”
Cele has assured residents that their policing concerns would be addressed immediately and he deployed a Special Operations Team to the township to tackle criminality.
“In the next 24 hours, members of the Technical Response Team (TRT) will start operations in Diepsloot to increase police visibility. The officers will conduct regular patrols, cordon and searches as well as roadblocks,” his spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said.
“The Special Operations Team will by today have other members of various SA Police Service components working from the township.
“These include officers from crime intelligence, public order policing, and forensics services. The Firearms Liquor and Second Hand Goods Control unit will also conduct raids and shut down all establishments operating outside the law.”
Themba said a team from detective services would look into cold cases.