Police were monitoring the situation in Masiphumelele near Fish Hoek this morning after a service delivery protest there yesterday turned violent.On Thursday, police opened fire with rubber bullets on about 300 residents and arrested nine people on charges of public violence.
On Friday morning, the area was quiet, but police were patrolling Masiphumelele's streets to ensure that the protest did not flare up again.
| Children ... started a game of 'cops and protesters' |
"We hope it will stay like this now. Police are patrolling the area, because we have to be pro-active - it is not good for the residents of the area and neighbouring parts of the south peninsula when this sort of thing happens," Mzuku said.
On Thursday night, smouldering heaps of debris in the streets were the only remnants of earlier clashes between protesters and police.
The protest had started at dawn, and police fired rubber bullets into the crowd on two separate occasions in an attempt to disperse them.
No injuries were reported to police, but residents claimed that at least two people, both of them young boys, had been caught in the crossfire and wounded by rubber bullets.
The area's ward councillor, Felicity Purchase, was stoned by residents when she attempted to talk to them about their concerns.
Once the area had cleared yesterday, the spirit of the protest lingered - at least among Masiphumelele's children.
Children playing in a yard opposite the site where police had parked to monitor the area started a game of "cops and protesters".
Half of the group toyi toyied and shouted "viva comrade, viva!" The other half stood around them with planks, pretending they were shotguns.
Minutes after the "protest" started, the "cops" attacked the protesters and sent them off to sit in a wooden box.
- Cape Argus
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