100 arrested in Joburg riot

2010-10-05 16:05

Johannesburg - About 100 people were arrested during a riot on Tuesday at the Lion Park informal settlement, which involved the torching of a metro police vehicle and the firing of rubber bullets on Tuesday.

Metro police spokesperson Edna Mamonyane said that her colleagues were monitoring the protest, just off Malibongwe Drive, north west of Johannesburg, when one of their vehicles was burnt out.

Metro police called for back up and more policemen arrived. Rubber bullets were used to disperse the crowd and the arrests were made.

Those arrested were taken to the Honeydew police station in preparation for charges of public violence, arson and damage to council property.

The latter charge relates to items like notebooks, rain coats and reflective glasses that were destroyed when the car was torched.

A wallet with bank cards was also lost in the fire.

"The situation now is very quiet after most of the protesters were arrested," said Mamonyane.

She said that a group called Itsoseng Community had applied for permission to protest, saying they would be at the local football field where they were going to wait for the office of the premier to receive a memorandum relating to service delivery.

There were no injuries, to Mamonyane's knowledge.

Comment from a group representative was not immediately available.

- SAPA