Diepsloot police make breakthrough in gang violence

In December, seven men were assaulted and set alight in a vigilante attack after residents accused them of being criminals.

Committee chairperson Bandile Masuku led a fact-finding visit to the station following the attacks, where police management presented plans to address the scourge of violence.

In his update, Diepsloot police station commander Koena Moichelo lamented alcohol abuse and poor spatial planning as major policing challenges.

“Assault GBH is a very serious concern, followed by assault common…murders is also a concern, followed by common robbery with a firearm, rapes, house robberies, attempted murder, robbery with a weapon other than a firearm, as well as business robbery.”

Murders in Diepsloot went up by 15%, while assaults with intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH) rose by more than 40%.

Moichela confirmed complaints of armed gangs robbing residents in their homes and in the streets.

“House robberies and murder; the modus operandi is that five African males operate from Thursday to Friday between 02:15 am and 3 am, armed with one to two firearms. They are violent, and in one case they raped the victim in the house robbery.”

He said there are at least two other gangs of two and four males operating in the area.

However, police made a breakthrough that resulted in the arrest of suspects from Tembisa who allegedly travelled to Diepsloot to carry out robberies and murders.

“Last weekend we managed to get information and apprehended one suspect in Ebony Park, Tembisa. We did an interrogation and investigation that led to two suspects that were arrested two days ago,” Moichela said.

RESOURCES AND VIGILANTISM

The community has expressed a lack of faith in the police and in areas such as Extension 1, where residents have resorted to taking the law into their own hands.

“It’s a very serious concern We are policing a very violent community that believes in settling differences through violence," Moichela told the committee. 

The community accused the police ministry of offering temporary solutions to a growing problem after reinforcement personnel from the Public Order Police, National Intervention Unit, and the Tactical Response Team were withdrawn due to cost containment measures.

Moichela also pleaded for the committee’s intervention after 11 police officers from the station were redeployed without consultation earlier this month.

An additional 20 vehicles were given to the station in 2021, with 168 police officers policing the area.

“Five have retired recently, about five will retire by December this year. We lost 11 members last week because there’s this establishment of the 10111 centre," said the station commander.

But Moichela is adamant no number of boots on the ground will have a lasting impact on the crime figures if the underlying socio-economic issues are not addressed through collaborative efforts with other government departments.

He said police intelligence is also lacking: “We don’t have the intelligence to infiltrate the crime syndicates in this area.”

Masuku said they were pleased with efforts so far, and also promised to engage other departments and government entities on how they can improve crime combatting efforts.

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