Gauteng police commissioner Gen Elias Mawela says there will be no sustainable solution to curb crime in Diepsloot until each government department plays its part.
Yesterday, Mawela said while police had plans to curb crime in the area, none of its plans would be effective if the departments of human settlements, home affairs as well the City of Johannesburg did not come to the party.
Mawela alongside the district commissioner Max Masha and Diepsloot police station commander Koena Moichela were briefing the legislature’s portfolio committee on community safety on policing plans it has to address the high levels of crime in the troubled area. Mawela said crime in the area had worsened since the last financial year and this is largely because of the influx of undocumented foreign nationals.
And while the team could not share the exact details of the plan, Mawela said it would follow a three-stage approach of stabilisation phase, normalisation phase and the sustaining phase.
“We do this so we can allow other departments to come in and do their part while we are still there, like home affairs on immigration, but this doesn’t happen. Once things have normalised and we leave the area, the crime starts again because other elements are not dealt with,” he said.
Mawela said illegal electricity connections and unsuitable shack designs posed a danger to police who sometimes had to abandon their cars to pursue criminals in narrow shack passages.
“Eskom must then play their part in dismantling illicit connections. We went to a place called Mashamplane where illegal electricity connections were running above us and on the ground. Anyone unfamiliar with the place could easily get electrocuted," he said.
“If you have walked in the passages of many informal settlements, you will see how narrow they are. If a criminal was hiding in a shack and had a machine gun and shot at us, he would finish us all. We would have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Human settlement must deal with that.”
“We will keep stabilising and normalising, but until each department plays their part, we will keep finding ourselves in the same position.”
Mawela said another part of things that worsened crime in Diepsloot was an influx of undocumented foreign nationals with police having arrested over 736 from April to September.
He said in the past, arrested undocumented migrants would be deported, which reduced the levels of crime in Diepsloot. But undocumented foreigners realised that there is a loophole in the court process, which legitimises their stay in the country.
“Another loophole that undocumented migrants exploit is that once you have appeared before court, you can say ‘actually, my lord, I’m here for asylum purposes’. You are then being allowed to go and apply for asylum status. You are then legit in the country.
“This is something that requires the lawmakers to correct. We as police have done our part.”
With a police to public ratio of about one officer to 1,063 people, Mawela said the undocumented nationals added to the crises, but were often harboured by community members who rent out rooms and shacks to them.
Miochela said the crime in the area was spilling over into schools with girls as young as 10-years old being part of gangs and carrying knives to school.
Two weeks ago seven people were killed in two separate vigilante attacks in extensions 12 and 13. Two of the seven were confirmed to be South African, while Mawela said the other five were suspected to be foreign nationals.
sibiyan@sowetan.co.za
Police need support in Diepsloot - Mawela
Other departments need to play their part
Image: ANTONIO MUCHAVE
Gauteng police commissioner Gen Elias Mawela says there will be no sustainable solution to curb crime in Diepsloot until each government department plays its part.
Yesterday, Mawela said while police had plans to curb crime in the area, none of its plans would be effective if the departments of human settlements, home affairs as well the City of Johannesburg did not come to the party.
Mawela alongside the district commissioner Max Masha and Diepsloot police station commander Koena Moichela were briefing the legislature’s portfolio committee on community safety on policing plans it has to address the high levels of crime in the troubled area. Mawela said crime in the area had worsened since the last financial year and this is largely because of the influx of undocumented foreign nationals.
And while the team could not share the exact details of the plan, Mawela said it would follow a three-stage approach of stabilisation phase, normalisation phase and the sustaining phase.
“We do this so we can allow other departments to come in and do their part while we are still there, like home affairs on immigration, but this doesn’t happen. Once things have normalised and we leave the area, the crime starts again because other elements are not dealt with,” he said.
Mawela said illegal electricity connections and unsuitable shack designs posed a danger to police who sometimes had to abandon their cars to pursue criminals in narrow shack passages.
“Eskom must then play their part in dismantling illicit connections. We went to a place called Mashamplane where illegal electricity connections were running above us and on the ground. Anyone unfamiliar with the place could easily get electrocuted," he said.
“If you have walked in the passages of many informal settlements, you will see how narrow they are. If a criminal was hiding in a shack and had a machine gun and shot at us, he would finish us all. We would have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Human settlement must deal with that.”
“We will keep stabilising and normalising, but until each department plays their part, we will keep finding ourselves in the same position.”
Mawela said another part of things that worsened crime in Diepsloot was an influx of undocumented foreign nationals with police having arrested over 736 from April to September.
He said in the past, arrested undocumented migrants would be deported, which reduced the levels of crime in Diepsloot. But undocumented foreigners realised that there is a loophole in the court process, which legitimises their stay in the country.
“Another loophole that undocumented migrants exploit is that once you have appeared before court, you can say ‘actually, my lord, I’m here for asylum purposes’. You are then being allowed to go and apply for asylum status. You are then legit in the country.
“This is something that requires the lawmakers to correct. We as police have done our part.”
With a police to public ratio of about one officer to 1,063 people, Mawela said the undocumented nationals added to the crises, but were often harboured by community members who rent out rooms and shacks to them.
Miochela said the crime in the area was spilling over into schools with girls as young as 10-years old being part of gangs and carrying knives to school.
Two weeks ago seven people were killed in two separate vigilante attacks in extensions 12 and 13. Two of the seven were confirmed to be South African, while Mawela said the other five were suspected to be foreign nationals.
sibiyan@sowetan.co.za
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