A total of three suspects were arrested for public violence in Diepsloot on Thursday, 29 June 2023. The police used rubber bullets to disperse the crowd that was partaking in a violent protest, earlier in the day. Police continue to monitor the situation in the area.
The arrested suspects are expected to appear before the local Magistrate’s Court in due course.
The management of the police in Diepsloot has mobilised various units in the saps to monitor protests that have now turned into sporadic burning of tyres and blocking of roads.
The community is complaining of police visibility and high crime levels, influx of illegal immigrants that are allegedly committing crime as well as other service delivery issues.
These are mostly residents from informal settlements that have challenges with environmental design. Police vehicles are not able to get into those congested areas for patrols especially at night as there is no electricity.
During the day, there are foot patrols by all law enforcement agencies (police, crime wardens, metro police as well as CPF and patrollers). During the night, law enforcement agencies patrol with blue lights for visibility but they’re not able to access those areas.
The station management will continue to engage the community leaders and community based structures as well as other departments (Home Affairs, Housing, municipality etc) to find long term solutions to the service delivery issues in Diepsloot.
In terms of crime, I can confirm that there were six murders in Diepsloot since the beginning of June. We have made several arrests including six suspects in a case of attempted murder and house robbery, one for attempted murder case, three suspects in three separate cases of armed robbery, five for pointing of firearm (the firearm is one of the 14 that have been seized in Diepsloot since April), 82 people for drinking in public as they end up being targeted by armed robbers, closed two illegal shebeens that are generators of common robberies, assault GBH, GBV and domestic violence.
At this stage the police are still monitoring the situation in Diepsloot and we will after consultations peacefully disperse the protesters.
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