A police officer was injured during violent protests by Soshanguve residents over poor service delivery, Pretoria police said on Wednesday.
Inspector Lucas Sithole said five people were also arrested for public violence and malicious damage to property.
”Residents went on the rampage shortly after midnight. They blocked roads and burnt tyres in the streets.
”The officer was hurt when stones were flung at him by angry residents this morning. He was taken to hospital,” Sithole said.
Those arrested are expected to appear in the Soshanguve Magistrate’s Court soon.
Violent protests by residents of Soshanguve last week were a result of the community misunderstanding service-delivery plans, the Tshwane municipality said.
Protesters who blocked the intersection of Soutpan and Hammanskraal roads with objects including burning tyres represented a community that had misunderstood the council’s plans to move some of them to an area that is safe for infrastructural development, said William Baloyi, spokesperson for mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, last Thursday.
The protests led to a police officer being injured when a stone was hurled at his head by one of a group of 80 to 100 protesters, said police spokesperson Superintendent Piletji Sebola. — Sapa