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After three days of rioting and violence, peace seems to have returned to Diepsloot.
No incidents of violence were reported this morning in the township north of Johannesburg. However, police still maintained a strong presence.
Police spokesman Inspector Percy Morokane said although the situation was calm, and "everyone was going to work as if nothing had happened in the past days", police "were not going to be fooled".
Unlike yesterday morning's chaos, taxis and other commuter services resumed their normal operation. The barricades in the streets had also been removed while the traffic on the R511 road increased.
The road, which runs between Pretoria and Johannesburg, was closed yesterday after a number of cars were badly damaged by a stone-throwing crowd. More than 20 people, who were arrested during the riots, will appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court today.
They face charges of arson and public violence.
The trouble in the township began on Monday, when shack-dwelling residents claimed they had been told by local councillor Sarafina Mulaudzi that they were to be forcibly removed to Brits, in the North West province.
But the City of Johannesburg said it suspected that the rioting was connected to the illegal occupation of houses allocated to Diepsloot residents.
Yesterday City of Johannesburg spokesperson Gabu Tugwana said Mulaudzi had denied having spread the relocation rumour. Mulaudzi herself could not be reached for comment.
Despite assurances by the city, the provincial government and the Johannesburg ANC that there were no plans to move anyone from Diepsloot, the violence continued.
Meanwhile, the media's banning from Diepsloot yesterday has been decried as apartheid-style censorship. Criticism from media groups came after journalists were banned from Diepsloot for three hours yesterday because police claimed they were fuelling the violence.
More than 20 reporters, photographers and cameramen attempting to cover riots were kicked out by police who used Section 13 of the Police Act to declare the area a crime scene.
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