The situation is still volatile in Diepsloot, north of Joburg as residents started chasing out illegal immigrants this morning. They vowed to protest until all undocumented immigrants are out of the area as they are to blame for criminal activities. Residents said they are tired of living with terrorists who kill, rape and feed their children drugs.

BHEKI CELE LABELLED 'USELESS' 

Community leader Loyiso Toyiyo said the Police Minister's efforts are useless because they are not permanent. "He only deploys police for a short period of time to patrol and then after a few weeks, they are nowhere to be found. We want police officers who will patrol extensions 1,12 and 13, where there are high levels of crime," he said. He added that there are illegal immigrants who were arrested for various crimes but released soon afterwards by the Randburg Magistrates' Court and went back to the community, to further terrorise them. "We cannot call such people our brothers, they are our enemies."

THE INNOCENT ARE DYING

A member of the Community Policing Forum (CPF) Vincent Ndou said they've been experiencing a high level of crime and everyone has suffered at the hands of criminals. "We've been trying our best as community leaders and the community to fight these criminals that are terrorising us. Our chairperson was gunned down at his home. None of us are safe, even at our places they butcher us. We lost a 12-year-old recently, he was shot and his mother was hacked with a crowbar and is critical in hospital," he said.

INTERVENTION 

SAPS Provincial Commissioner, General Elias Mawela addressed the residents of Diepsloot Ext 12, following an operation by SAPS, Home Affairs, Human Settlements and Gauteng Community Safety (Crime Wardens), Johannesburg Metro Police Department, ward councillors, CPF and other stakeholders. Mawela told residents that they are not in this fight alone and the police will do their best to remove criminals. "You cannot live in constant fear because there are people who think they can rule Diepsloot. We will do our best to restore calm and peace here. So far, over 50 undocumented persons have been arrested. The operations aim to remove illegal immigrants from abandoned shacks and addressing landlords that lease their shacks to undocumented people for aiding and abetting them," Mawela added. Johannesburg Metro Police Spokesperson, Xolani Fihla, said, "Following the continuous protest action in Diepsloot, police remain on high alert and are closely monitoring the situation in the area. Currently, the state of affairs in the area remains calm but tensions are high as the community continues to voice their concerns.