Diepsloot crime: Commissioner calls on government departments to up the ante

Gauteng police commissioner Elias Mawela warned Diepsloot residents not to take law into their own hands after seven suspected criminals were killed in apparent mob justice.

Revealing plans to address crime that is out of control in the township outside Johannesburg, Mawela blamed the influx of foreign nationals, poverty, and drug and alcohol abuse for the spiralling figures.

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“There is prevalence of societal issues encompassing the misuse of alcohol, drugs, and involvement in gang related activities,” he told members of the provincial legislature’s portfolio committee on community safety.

Diepsloot, with an unemployment rate of 54%, had a total of 147 taverns, eight liquor outlets and 351 spaza shops.

Mawela said the challenges posed by permeable borders led to an influx of foreign nationals and limited prospects for economic growth within the area, contributing to elevated levels of unemployment and poverty.

The problems:

Mawela said the subpar environmental planning negatively impacting the operational capacity of the police notably included:

• The absence or inadequacy of lighting infrastructure;

• Deteriorated road conditions causing delays in response times;

• Unauthorised and illegal electricity connections; and

• The lack or absence of street addresses.

Other inhibiting factors were:

• Rapid urban expansion, accompanied by deficient housing infrastructure and an increase in informal settlements and backyard dwellers;

• Insufficient focus on youth development and recreational opportunities, resulting in school children becoming entangled in gang-related activities;

• Deficiencies in the provision of municipal services leading to community protests, thereby diverting the primary focus of the police;

• Insufficient capacity of courts to effectively process the volumes of arrested persons; and

• Inadequate capacity of the department of home affairs to deal with the high number of asylum seekers.

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The plan:

Mawela recommended:

• A comprehensive “whole-of-government” strategy where departments execute their designated mandates and obligations;

• The department of human settlements, in collaboration with local government, needs to formalise the area;

• The department of home affairs need to regulate the entry of undocumented foreigners into the area;

• Immigration within the department be capacitated to effectively deal with the high number of asylum seekers; and

• The department of social development needs to address aspects relating to socio-economic challenges, such as youth development, etc.

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He also called on SA’s lawmakers to correct loopholes in legislation as it hampered the police’s work in dealing with crime committed by foreign nationals.

“The interventions which we have put in Diepsloot have led to the arrest of a total of 2 620 undocumented persons.

And those people, when they appear in court, the majority of them pay their fines and go back to the community,” he said.

“So, in a way, by taking those people through the court processes, we’re legitimising their stay in the country.

“Some of these undocumented persons have left Diepsloot and this is why the crime picture of the township in the previous financial year is relatively low. They knew once you are arrested, it will be a problem.

“But they realise that there is a loophole in the court process. They realise it’s better to be arrested, go through the court process and you’re legit in the country.

“That creates a problem that the lawmakers must correct, but the police have done their part.”

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