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Protesters sow chaos Police arrest 37 after widespread looting and damage to property Marti Will mwill@volksblad.com
The police have arrested 37 people for public violence and ten for malicious damage to property following Monday’s (09/10) sporadic disruptive actions in the area. Burning tyres, uprooted trees, rocks and cement blocks blocked the roads as toyi-toyiing people moved through the streets of Thabong, Odendaalsrus and Allanridge. A police satellite unit in the Nyakallong township (Allanridge) was pelted with stones and there was damage to windows, and a vehicle belonging to the Department of Health was also hit with stones. The Public Order Police (Pop) were deployed and managed to calm the situation. Ten people (three women and seven men) were arrested. In Odendaalsrus, about five shops owned by foreigners were looted. The Pop unit dispersed the crowds and arrested 20 people for public violence. Some of the shop owners were escorted out of the township. In Thabong, safe passage was almost impossible. The roads were blocked by irate protestors who were toyi-toyiing and demonstrating. Protestors also pelted the police with stones. Vista was on the scene, accompanying the police in Thabong. Among other things, the intimidation and robbery of a Bangladeshi businessman were witnessed. It was also witnessed how his business was dismantled and his stock carried away. The police had to provide safe passage for him. During the protests, two journalists of OFM reported that they were robbed of their personal belongings and cameras. The police are investigating this incident. In Thabong, seven people were arrested for public violence, which brought the total number of people arrested in the Goldfields area to 37. “It is clear that there are criminal
On Monday (09/10) roads were blocked in Thabong, making safe passage almost impossible. This photograph was taken in Mothusi Road. Photo: Marti Will
elements within this protest and we are going to make sure that we deal with them as criminals, and nothing else,” said the provincial commissioner of the Free State, Lt.Gen. Lebeoana Tsumane. “We appeal to our communities that when they are disgruntled, they must direct their concerns in an orderly manner to the relevant companies, and not damage the structures which must provide services to them like satellite police stations or government vehicles,” he said. “We are expecting the number of those arrested to rise, as our deployments are still busy on the ground,” said Brig. Motantsi Makhele, provincial head of communication, marketing and liaison in the Free State. The chairman of the South African Small Business Directors Empowerment Fund (SASBDEF), Joel Khotule, strongly condemned the violence and looting that took place in the Goldfields.
“We are a peaceful organisation. We do not support the violent protests. Yes, our issues are grave, and the mayor is ignoring us, but this kind of violence detracts from the real problems,” Khotule said. He told Vista that the executive mayor of Matjhabeng, Nkosinjani Speelman, had not attended a followup meeting on 28 September. “At the beginning of September, we gave the mayor a list of demands. These included getting residents houses and sites, jobs for the unemployed youth, title deeds and empowering small businesses. He has failed the community and the community is very upset. “On 28 September we marched peacefully and we gave him a memorandum which was to have been answered within seven days. We still have no answers, only empty promises. “Now the community is taking the law
into their own hands. We as SASBDEF wanted to avoid this kind of action,” said Khotule. ) Further chaos presumably related to the protests erupted on Monday night when a crowd forced a Greyhound bus to a halt outside Allanridge. At approximately 23:00, the driver was forced to slow down due to rocks blocking the road. As soon as speed was reduced, a crowd of people emerged from the darkness, throwing stones at the vehicle and forcing it to a complete stop. An angry crowd, estimated in the hundreds by some of the passengers, then stormed the bus and forced the doors open. Passengers were assaulted and robbed of their possessions. The passengers were then forced off the bus and had to leave the scene on foot. As they were leaving the scene, the attackers set the bus on fire, completely destroying it.
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