Manhunt for city hall arsonists
Free State police have vowed to intensify deployment after the Mangaung city hall was set alight, allegedly by municipal workers.
Police spokesperson Motantsi Makhele said yesterday the incident happened on Wednesday after officers had a confrontation with about 200 municipal workers, who refused to disperse after a meeting at the hall.
“The workers started throwing stones at the police and passing cars, which led to police using stun grenades to disperse them.”
Makhele said moments after the crowd dispersed, the officers noticed smoke coming from the hall. “Firefighters battled until about 10pm to extinguish the fire.”
Police arrested three people for public violence and a case of arson was opened.
“There are four cases of malicious damage to property, in regards to vehicles that were damaged,” Makhele said.
“We would like to appeal to communities to refrain from destroying government properties, no matter what differences they have with their employer,” said acting provincial commissioner Major-General Moeketsi Semepe.
“Our investigating team will work around the clock to find the perpetrators who caused the fire. People must rest assured that we won’t allow any acts of intimidation or lawlessness to take place.”
The South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) has denied that its members were behind the fire.
General secretary Simon Mathe said yesterday Samwu members could not be blamed for the fire because they used the city hall as a gathering place.
“We can safely say none of our members were responsible; in fact, we are convinced that none are even capable of this.” – ANA