Police have opened fire on people resisting eviction from newly built homes at Delft on the Cape Flats, activists said on Tuesday morning.
The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign said shortly before 11am that there was "pandemonium" at the scene, and that 20 people were injured in the shooting.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Andre Traut said police had been obliged to use "some sort of force" after the illegal occupants of the houses became violent and threw stones at police and personnel of the sheriff of the court.
"They prevented the sheriff of the court personnel from executing the eviction order and on those ground the police were necessitated to act," he said.
A "small amount" of rubber bullets and stun grenades were used.
He had a preliminary tally of seven people with minor injuries as a result of the shooting, all of whom were treated on the scene by emergency services personnel.
The campaign said in a statement that private security guards and police moved on site early on Tuesday morning to evict over 1 000 people who illegally occupied the houses, meant for residents of an informal settlement being cleared to make way for the government's flagship Gateway housing project.
This followed a Cape High Court judge's rejection on Monday afternoon of an application by the occupants for leave to appeal against an eviction order.
The campaign said that following the Monday ruling, the residents had decided to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.
Lawyers had worked through the night doing the paperwork for this.
"All the anti-eviction campaign co-ordinators have advised the police that there is another legal case pending and they have no authority to evict until the legal process is exhausted but they are doing it anyway," the campaign said in a statement.
"This is unlawful.... Mncedisi Twalo of the Gugulethu Anti-Eviction Campaign was making a speech to the people of Delft urging them to sit down on the spot, and the police suddenly opened fire on him and the Delft residents who were directly in front of them.
Traut said the police were not involved in the actual evictions, and were on the scene only to maintain law and order. - Sapa
The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign said shortly before 11am that there was "pandemonium" at the scene, and that 20 people were injured in the shooting.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Andre Traut said police had been obliged to use "some sort of force" after the illegal occupants of the houses became violent and threw stones at police and personnel of the sheriff of the court.
"They prevented the sheriff of the court personnel from executing the eviction order and on those ground the police were necessitated to act," he said.
A "small amount" of rubber bullets and stun grenades were used.
He had a preliminary tally of seven people with minor injuries as a result of the shooting, all of whom were treated on the scene by emergency services personnel.
The campaign said in a statement that private security guards and police moved on site early on Tuesday morning to evict over 1 000 people who illegally occupied the houses, meant for residents of an informal settlement being cleared to make way for the government's flagship Gateway housing project.
This followed a Cape High Court judge's rejection on Monday afternoon of an application by the occupants for leave to appeal against an eviction order.
The campaign said that following the Monday ruling, the residents had decided to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.
Lawyers had worked through the night doing the paperwork for this.
"All the anti-eviction campaign co-ordinators have advised the police that there is another legal case pending and they have no authority to evict until the legal process is exhausted but they are doing it anyway," the campaign said in a statement.
"This is unlawful.... Mncedisi Twalo of the Gugulethu Anti-Eviction Campaign was making a speech to the people of Delft urging them to sit down on the spot, and the police suddenly opened fire on him and the Delft residents who were directly in front of them.
"Twenty residents have been injured and rushed to hospital, including... three children."
Traut said the police were not involved in the actual evictions, and were on the scene only to maintain law and order. - Sapa
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