People of Diepsloot need to see real change on issues they've been complaining about for years, say NGOs

08 April 2022 - 13:19
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
As police investigate Diepsloot's latest spike in crime after this week's protests, NGOs point out this is just the tip of the iceberg.
As police investigate Diepsloot's latest spike in crime after this week's protests, NGOs point out this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Image: Thulani Mbele

Gauteng premier David Makhura says law enforcement agencies are investigating allegations of a criminal gang terrorising the Diepsloot community, which led to protests spilling over into the streets this week.

NGOs working in the northern Johannesburg informal settlement say the protests come after years of rampant crime in the area.

“There was a gang that moved door-to-door, literally breaking doors and shooting people,” Makhura said during a visit to the area on Friday, reporting on feedback given by residents to government agencies in the wake of the violence.

“There are seven people who died [since October]. The community was upset, they are still upset about that. The allegation is that this gang has been breaking in, shooting, stabbing people and asking for money and TV sets. The community alleges they are foreigners. That can only be confirmed by the police.”

Police spokesperson Col Athlenda Mathe said according to the Diepsloot police record of reported cases, five murders were reported between March 30 and April 3.

“These murders emanated from unrelated incidents and investigations are under way to arrest the suspects,” she said.

Mathe said a search was under way for the culprits who killed Zimbabwean Elvis Nyathi. He was beaten and his body burnt by a group moving door-to-door through the informal settlement at night, challenging residents to produce passports and identity documents to prove their nationality.

Makhura denounced the murder, saying: “We condemn any act of violence. The community must not take the law into their own hands. Even if somebody was in SA illegally, they cannot be killed.”

Rhiza Babuyile, a non-profit group working in Diepsloot, said residents are desperate for a reprieve from years of unfettered violence, criminality and social decay due to a lack of government services and policing. It called on law enforcement agencies to urgently attend to long-standing social ills faced by the community.

The NGO’s CEO Rashuping Morake, said the issues behind the events of this week have not received the attention they deserve.

“This area experiences a lot of crime, including robberies, killings and gunpoint rapes, leaving the community feeling helpless and vulnerable. The residents have come to a point where they are asking: when is enough going to be enough?”

The people of Diepsloot need to see real change on the issues that affect their community and which they have been complaining about for years, said Rhiza Babuyile.

“The police response time when residents report crimes has long been raised as a major concern. Government services are also hard to come by in the area. The majority of Diepsloot residents have little to no access to electricity, running water and sanitation. They do not have access to quality healthcare and other basic services.”

Rhiza Babuyile said it has been assisting wherever possible over the past decade through its health programme, but far more needs to be done.

“People are unemployed and have no access to quality education and for many, every day is a struggle for food,” Morake said. “We urgently call on the government to assist the people of Diepsloot, as they have been asking for years, so that violent incidents such as what we have witnessed this week never happen again.”

Referring to Nyathi's murder, the Salvation Army's Torben Eliasen called for an end to the victimisation of foreigners living in SA.

“As Christians, we are appalled by this violence against foreigners. There are many allegations of the involvement of foreigners as the root of problems of crime and unemployment. [But] It is nonsensical to characterise the behaviour of communities by blaming foreigners,” said Eliasen.

“The violent and coercive intimidation by some factions in the community is the antithesis of the principles of reconciliation laid down by Nelson Mandela as guiding lodestars for SA in 1994. It is tragic that people are undoing these principles as they advance their own narrow political interests.

“We call for all those perpetuating and escalating violence to abandon this course of action which through history has been shown to be pointless, brutal and primitive.”

The Zim Community SA grouping has called on the government to act with haste to protect all the people within its borders and that law enforcement be the only enforcer of the law.

“This vigilantism has cost us a brother who was a hard worker and not involved in any criminal activities,” said Bongani Mazwi Mkwananzi, its spokesperson.

“We also call upon the SA community to have compassion and understanding that it's not easy to fix our country as some claim. It is not out of lack of trying. The inhuman treatment is painful to us.” 

Mkwananzi said his organisation is playing its part to combat criminality.

“We demand that our compatriots who are involved in criminal activities which may be invoking the anger and hate we are receiving from our hosts must cease and desist from this.

“And we call on those of our compatriots who may be aware of such criminal activities to inform the police. If they do not trust [the police], we urged them to approach our crime-fighting desk which works with community policing forums.”

This desk was established after an anti-crime summit held in Hillbrow just before the start of the Covid-19 lockdown.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.