SOUTH AFRICA: Police enforce clear-up after rioting

Record ID: 455726

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Police enforce clear-up after rioting
  • Date: 17th February 2011
  • Summary: ERMELO, SOUTH AFRICA (FEBRUARY 16, 2011) (REUTERS) BURNING BARRICADE POLICE AT TOWNSHIP ENTRANCE POLICE SUPERVISING YOUTHS AS THEY REMOVE A BARRICADE ARMED POLICE ON PATROL YOUTHS REMOVING BURNING BARRICADE POLICEMAN ON PATROL YOUTHS MOVING MATERIAL FROM BURNING BARRICADE POLICE PATROLLING
  • Embargoed: 4th March 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa, South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5XTJQKQD99ZG11SWXKOKRXGYQ
  • Story Text: More than 89 people, including 20 youths, were arrested on public violence charges in a township outside Ermelo in South Africa.
    On Wednesday (February 16) smoke was still rising from burning barricades in Wesselton and armed police enforced a clear-up, watching as local youths shifted charred tyres, rubble and rocks from the streets.
    Violence broke out following protests over slow delivery of better public services on Tuesday (February 15) and police used live rounds and rubber bullets in an attempt to quell angry crowds.
    National police commissioner General Bheki Cele is expected to visit the area in the afternoon on Wednesday.
    The protests by poor blacks, the strong voting base for the African National Congress, put pressure on the ruling party ahead of local government elections scheduled to take place in May.
    Since taking power in 1994 the ANC has made gains in addressing apartheid-era inequalities but continues to face an uphill battle to meet its commitments to the poor who have become increasingly frustrated at the slow pace of delivery.
    Residents were also frustrated with their local ANC representative, claiming he was not addressing their problems.
    Similar protests erupted across the country in the run-up to last year's Soccer World Cup as the host nation's poor tried to use the sporting event to highlight their squalid living conditions.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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