Police beef up presence after Mangaung City Hall is torched

FREE STATE police have vowed to intensify deployment after the Mangaung City Hall was set alight, allegedly by municipal workers, on Wednesday.

Yesterday, SAPS spokesperson Motantsi Makhele said the violence broke out after officers had a confrontation with around 200 municipal workers, who refused to disperse after a meeting at the hall.

“The workers started throwing stones at the police and passing motor vehicles, which led to police using stun grenades to disperse them.”

Makhele said that moments after the crowd dispersed, police noticed smoke coming from the hall. “Firefighters were summoned to the scene, but battled to extinguish the fire until around 10pm.

“Police arrested three people for public violence, and a case of arson was registered for the torching of the hall.

“There are four cases of malicious damage to property, which were registered in regard to vehicles that were damaged.”

Makhele said forensic investigators would be on the scene to conduct further investigations. “We would like to appeal to our communities to refrain from destroying government properties no matter what differences they have with their employer,” Acting Provincial Commissioner Major-General Moeketsi Semepe said.

“Our investigating team will work around the clock to detect those who caused the fire, and our people must rest assured that we won’t allow any acts of intimidation or lawlessness to take place.”