Police officers‚ including cops on leave‚ have been drafted in from other areas to quell the violence that has seen vehicles being torched‚ business ransacked and roads blocked in Atteridgeville‚ Hammanskraal‚ Mamelodi and Garankuwa.
Journalists were threatened on Tuesday morning‚ with a Sowetan reporter in Atteridgeville being warned by an agitated protester who was covering his face with a jacket and carrying a brick: “Take my picture‚ you will be the next thing on flames.”
Most main roads in and out of the townships were barricaded with burning debris‚ leaving people unable to get out of the township to go to work.
The nearby N4 highway to Rustenburg was also affected as it was barricaded with burning tyres and mobs turned cars away. A large crowd engaged in running battles with the police‚ who appeared to be overstretched‚ along the highway.
