Western Cape police used teargas, rubber bullets and stun grenades on Wednesday morning to break up a group of protesters in Blackheath, Cape Town.
Captain Billy Jones said police warned the group of about 600 protesters to disperse but they refused. He said the police then opened fire. No reports of injuries have been received.
He said the police would stay in the area for the rest of the day, as more protests could follow.
The fire brigade then removed burning tyres and other barricades from the streets of Blackheath and traffic was restored to normal, Jones said.
The protesters, most of them living in an area called Happy Valley, are unhappy about lack of progress in providing housing for the homeless.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that commuters were left stranded when the streets of the area were barricaded.
The protesters, who call themselves ‘Backyard Dwellers’, are demonstrating against housing shortages and the perceived lack of development in the area since the 1990s.
The group’s spokesperson Nkosinathi Mzayiya was reported as saying that there are no proper facilities in the area and no decent transport services.
Mcebisi Skwaya of the African National Congress told residents in Guguletu, Cape Town, on Tuesday night that the government would not be pressurised in its housing delivery programme.
”The problem … is indicative of [the] need to be patient. We can’t promise houses in three months because of pressure that there will be violence.
”Progress is there but it’s going to take time. We are asking people to be patient,” said Skwaya. – Sapa