Protesters shut down Krugersdorp in bloody protest
Krugersdorp – Townships in Mogale City and the Krugersdorp central business district (CBD) were effectively shut down on Monday as thousands of protesters clashed with police.
Residents from several townships in Mogale City marched on the Krugersdorp CBD in protest against drugs and human trafficking.
Protesters torched several buildings suspected of being drug dens and looted shops and taverns in the CBD.
As police pushed protesters out of the CBD, violence flared up in neighbouring communities.
Around 3 000 protesters clashed with police in Munsieville. Thousands of rubber bullets were fired by police along with tear gas and stun grenades in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
Protesters retaliated by throwing stones and petrol bombs at police, using mattresses and corrugated iron sheets as shields.
Protesters arrested
The standoff in Munsieville lasted for a number of hours as protesters and police kept pushing each other back.
Several protesters were arrested in the process.
Munsieville residents blamed foreign nationals for the prevalence of drugs in the area and demanded that they leave Mogale City.
Protesters have also given the municipality an ultimatum to shut down all suspected drug dens by 17:00 on Monday. They also said that all those living in the buildings should be documented and vetted.
Violence flared up again in the Krugersdorp CBD on Monday afternoon as hundreds of protesters re-entered the CBD and resumed clashes with police.
All shops in the area had been closed and shotgun shells, stones, rubble and teargas canisters littered several streets where clashes took place.
Intermittent clashes
Police again used teargas, stun grenades and rubber bullets in an attempt to disperse protesters who dodged between buildings as they lobbed stones back at police.
Some protesters even scaled the rooftops of buildings to hurl stones at officers. Others picked up teargas canisters and threw them back at police.
Another smoldering building that was targeted by protesters. (Alex Mitchley, News24)
Ward 24 Munsieville councillor Norman Sedumedi said the protests were sparked by the kidnapping of a young woman from Kagiso.
"The community suspected that she was going to be used for drug peddling."
Sedumedi said the young woman has since been returned to her family.
The situation is still tense in the CBD with intermittent clashes between smaller groups of protesters and police.
Violence had apparently also flared up in Kagiso, with the police station allegedly being attacked. Police, however, had yet to confirm this by the time of publishing.
Update:
Police make two more arrests following Krugersdorp protest
Johannesburg – Two women were arrested in Krugersdorp on Tuesday, following protests in the area.
The women were allegedly found in possession of drugs, passports and syringes in one of the suspected drug houses burnt down on Monday.
News24 witnessed two women being handcuffed and taken into police custody.
However, when contacted for comment, provincial spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini could not confirm the arrests.
He said 59 people had been arrested for public violence on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, rocks and branches lay scattered across the roads and several shops and bottle stores were looted.
Two houses, not far from where the protest action took place, were burnt down.
Protesters claimed that these were drug houses and brothels.
West Cluster Community Police Forum (CPF) chairperson Gert Jonker said the forum was "extremely frustrated".
"One [problem] is, the seemingly uncontrolled influx of foreigners to our country. I'm referring to the foreigners who come into our towns with a sole purpose to commit crimes," Jonker said.
Gert said the community faced high drug- and prostitution-related crimes, and claimed that most of these crimes were being committed by foreign nationals.
"The second problem we have is with the Department of Home Affairs who are seemingly unable to control this tide of illegal [immigrants] coming into our country, taking over our businesses, prostituting our [women] and selling our children."
Jonker said they had also rescued a pregnant woman from a burnt down house on Monday.
He said she was also suspected of dealing in drugs.
There are two shelters in the area for homeless women.
"Many of these women that come into these shelters are victims of prostitution, drug trafficking and substance abuse," he said.
Meanwhile, Sunday Udeze, who moved to South African from Nigeria in 2007, told reporters that he watched as protesters looted his shop.
"I lost a lot of things… I am very tired and there is nothing we can do. We just have to start afresh," he said.
"The people that are doing drugs are in the streets and the prostitutes are not in our shops. I am too scared because they said they were coming back. It is what I am hearing. So, I don't see what I would be doing here because they already broke and took everything," Udeze said.
On Monday, News24 reported police officers shot at protesters, who had gathered at the Kagiso police station, with rubber bullets.
A large group of Kagiso residents made their way to the police station to protest against crime, drugs and human trafficking in the area, according to community leader Pastor Joe Mabuela.
