Own Correspondent|Violence has erupted in Diepsloot township north of Johannesburg where South Africans have blocked highways demanding that all undocumented foreigners should leave the country.

They are claiming that some foreigners recently killed a policeman and two community members.

The irate South Africans are conducting a door to door search of undocumented foreigners while stoning vehicles on highways.

A Zimbabwean allegedly shot and killed a policeman in the area amid concerns of increasing violence perpetrated by foreigners in the country.

Several South African newspapers report that 54-year-old Detective Captain Oupa Matjie was gunned down in Diepsloot a few days ago when he was investigating cases of murder.

Police have reportedly arrested some of the suspects.

Meanwhile Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela has said social media calls for a shutdown in Diepsloot, following the murder of the police officer, border on incitement to commit violence and can be construed as a criminal offence.

On Thursday morning, members of the community took to the streets, using burning tyres and rocks to block roads in the wake of the murder of Detective Captain Oupa Matjie last Friday.

But Mawela called for calm, saying the law should be allowed to take its course.

He urged the community to be mindful of the law and due processes.

Suspect ‘should not be jeopardised’

“The arrest of the suspect who allegedly shot and killed Captain Matjie, came through after collaboration between the community and the police. It is therefore important that the suspect’s appearance before court be secured and that it should not be jeopardised in any manner, so that the suspect faces the full might of the law,” Mawela said.

Public order police were on high alert and dispersed groups of people who barricaded the main roads in the area, including William Nicol Drive and the R511, police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said.

Peters said a group of people went to the police station at around 08:00 on Thursday morning, demanding to see the person who was arrested for Matjie’s murder.

The person is expected to appear in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Public order police will remain in the area.