PRETORIA – Minister of Police General Bheki Cele on Friday 24 January 2020, held a meeting with leaders representing the Diepsloot community.

The engagement followed violent protests that engulfed the township after the death of a police Captain in the area.

The late Captain Oupa Matjie was gunned down on Friday while in pursuit of suspects.

Minister Cele said, 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.

The Diepsloot community took to the streets alleging that foreign nationals commit most violent crimes in the township. They told Minister Cele that many are undocumented and as a result escape the long arm of the law.

Minister Cele has assured residents that their policing concerns will be addressed immediately.

He has 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.

The Special Operations Team will by Monday have other members of various SAPS 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.

A team from Detective Services will look into cold cases and allegations that some investigations involving undocumented foreigners remain unsolved.

Cele says 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 statuses 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 concluded.

Source: South African Police Service