Protesters torch cars
2009-07-12 21:37
Johannesburg - Hundreds of angry protesters in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, went on the rampage on Sunday, Gauteng police said.
The mob set fire to several vehicles, including a police van and two cars belonging to SABC-TV crews. They also stoned passing cars along the R511.
The Johannesburg metro police closed the road at 16:30, said Senior Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.
He added that several cars had been damaged.
Police say the situation has since calmed.
Minnaar, however, recommended that motorists continue to avoid the R511 and use the N14 to Roodepoort as an alternative route.
"Motorists must avoid it [R511] as a precaution," said Minnaar.
Diepsloot residents and police clashed during a similar protest last week that saw residents blockade streets with burning tyres and rocks.
Meanwhile, in unrelated violent protests in Mashishing, near Lydenburg, angry residents had by Sunday burned down a library, a hostel and a house and clashed with police.
Residents took to the streets early on Friday to demand the dismissal of allegedly corrupt local officials and the delivery of basic services to the area.
Around 3 000 protesters used burning tyres to block roads and stoned police car on Friday. A police officer was injured in clashes in which police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
Several more people were arrested after protests flared again on Sunday, bringing to over 60 the number of protestors taken into police custody since Friday.
- SAPA