'We will take the law into our own hands': Diepsloot residents protest illegal immigrants

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Diepsloot to protest against crime and negligent policing of immigration laws.

The protest was ignited by the alleged murders of seven people in the area at the weekend. 

Community leader Lefa Nkala says illegal immigrants perpetrated their first crimes by entering the country illicitly and continue to terrorise the community with further crimes. 

“We want to put this on record: if Bheki (Cele) is not coming, we are going to take the law into our own hands. We are saying police must help us, if the police fail to help us, we will hunt these criminals down,” Nkala said, adding, “It's not going to be nice.”

Police minister Bheki Cele, Gauteng premier David Makhura and national police commissioner Gen Sehlahle Fannie Masemola visited the area. 

Cele announced that an increased police presence would monitor the area over the next 24 hours. 

“What I'll concede here, we did not manage and sustain the project we started [in Diepsloot],” he says. 

He told residents that police would undertake a large joint operation to investigate their concerns on Friday. 

Many of the protesters said they believed his promises would once again fall flat.