Police officers injured in Mfuleni attack
TWO police officers were receiving medical treatment after they sustained head injuries while allegedly being attacked by community members, who reportedly burnt their vehicle.
Police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said officers in a Durbanville police vehicle were driving in School Street in Extension 3, Mfuleni, when the vehicle was stopped and allegedly torched by angry community members, who were apparently venting their anger against law enforcement officers after members of the City’s law enforcement unit demolished structures in the area on Sunday afternoon.
Rwexana said the crowd pelted the vehicle with stones and later set fire to it.
She said on arrival, members the public order police unit, who were summoned to the scene, found no groups in the area.
She said they continued to monitor the area, and detectives had opened cases of public violence, attempted murder and malicious damage to property.
The protest action was reportedly organised by a movement called Intlungu yaseMatyotyombeni (Pain of the Slums), which is made up informal settlement dwellers who believe they have been neglected during the Covid19 pandemic.
Movement chairperson Xoliswa Tsholoba said residents who had not had services for 10 months could not be expected to be “healthy” citizens during the pandemic.
Tsholoba said threats and eviction orders from local authorities needed to stop.
“We are not from any other country … we are South African citizens,” Tsholoba said.
Protests, which started last month, have resulted in many people being injured, buses and vehicles being torched, and traffic disrupted.
During the protests, Mayco member for water and waste Xanthea Limberg said providing services was a challenge when residents unlawfully settled on land that was not suitable for the installation of services.
Limberg said the City was not allowed to install services on privately -owned land without permission and could install services only on the periphery, on City-owned land.