Cops
looted Sasolburg shops during riots: residents
Sapa | 23 January, 2013 13:23
Police looted shops during the
violent protests in Zamdela, in Sasolburg, residents of the Free State town
allege.
"If I had a camera, I would have
taken photos. They took stuff in one Chinese shop and the community
followed," said a security guard at a municipal office.
"At Save Right [a local shop
near the police station] they even advised us not to injure each other, and
when the ATM was robbed, their van was nearby."
The 32-year-old man claimed that
Sasolburg police were also unhappy about the proposed merger of the Ngwathe and
Metsimaholo local municipalities.
He said this was evident in Tuesday's
shooting, in which two people died and others were wounded when police from
other provinces were deployed.
"We protested on Sunday [and] no
one was wounded or died; we did it again on Monday... [there were] no injuries
we heard about. So why are people being shot at when there is police from other
provinces?"
Earlier in the week, police from
Gauteng and Welkom were deployed in the area to help control the situation.
Police spokesman Colonel Motantsi
Makhele said he was aware of the allegations that police were among the looters.
"People must come to the front
if they have information," he said.
"We welcome anyone who has
information so that we can investigate this."
Resident Nthako, 47, said he was
happy Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Richard Baloyi
had announced that the process of merging the municipalities had been stopped.
However, Nthako criticised government
officials for not arriving at Moses Kotane Stadium, where residents had
expected to be addressed on the matter at 10am on Tuesday.
Residents ran out of patience and
left the stadium at 11am.
"If they came to the stadium and
addressed people, no one would have died or got injured," Nthako said.
A protester was shot dead at the
Zamdela police station during a clash with protesters on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, police said
another protester was shot dead by a motorist after a group of protesters tried
to block his way.
Nine people, two of them police
officers, have been injured since the protest started on Sunday. At least one
of whom was in a critical condition.
A Jacaranda radio journalist's car
was pelted with stones and a Sapa cameraman was threatened with a knife, also
on Tuesday.
The situation was quiet on Wednesday
and police were seen patrolling the area and taking photographs of damaged
properties on the main road.
Three police nyalas [armoured
vehicles] were seen driving around in the area while a helicopter hovered
overhead.
Lucky Malebo, a community leader,
said people had gone to hospital to check on people who were wounded.
"A list of those who were
injured and those who died is being compiled, and we might get it around
3pm," he said.
Malebo said the residents had wanted
to hold a meeting at the stadium on Wednesday, but could not apply for
permission as no one was on duty at the council.
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