Woman watches as home is petrol bombed by Coligny protesters
Johannesburg - A distraught Coligny resident has told News24 how all she could do was watch as protesters petrol bombed her house with her pets still inside on Tuesday morning.
"Everything was burned down. I couldn't save anything," Diana Swart, 45, who was struggling to hold back tears, said on Wednesday afternoon.
About three houses were burnt in the area following protest action that was allegedly sparked by the death of a 12-year-old boy.
Police confirmed that two people have been arrested in connection with the murder.
Swart who has been living in the area for 35 years said one of her pets that died was her dog, which she had had for 14 years.
"She was a little daughter of mine. She [ate] everything that I ate. She [drank] everything that I drank and now I got nothing."
Petrol demand
She said on Tuesday morning, her children had asked her to come to their houses.
As she was about to exit her gate, a group of 200 knife-wielding men approached her, she said.
Swart said the men forced her out of her bakkie and demanded petrol.
"They said they all know me [and] they know where I am from, what I did in town. I had an afterschool programme for 12 years... they said if I give them petrol they would see to it that I leave the property safely."
However shortly after, the men threw a petrol bomb in her house.
She said her family lost all their clothes, identity documents and cards.
A vehicle was also burnt inside her yard.
On Wednesday afternoon the small town was calm with residents cleaning up the area.
In the morning, shop owners were seen rebuilding and some repairing the damage that was caused by protesters.
The small town's main street, Voortrekker, was littered with rocks and glass.
Sidewalks and pavements were covered with shards of glass and plastic from looted goods.
