The News
Thursday 18 of April 2024

Rioters and Police Clash in Johannesburg Protest


A protester passes a burning barricades in the Ennerdale, Johannesburg township, Tuesday May 9, 2017,photo: AP
A protester passes a burning barricades in the Ennerdale, Johannesburg township, Tuesday May 9, 2017,photo: AP
The riot Tuesday in the Ennerdale neighborhood in southern Johannesburg followed similar unrest a day earlier in the nearby Eldorado Park area

JOHANNESBURG – Violent protests have erupted in South Africa’s biggest city for a second day, with police firing rubber bullets at demonstrators who blocked roads and burned tires.

The riot Tuesday in the Ennerdale neighborhood in southern Johannesburg followed similar unrest a day earlier in the nearby Eldorado Park area. In both cases, protesters have been demanding housing and other government services.

South African media say police arrested dozens of people in Eldorado Park after shops were looted.

Protesters sing and chant in front of a burning barricade in the Ennerdale, Johannesburg township, Tuesday May 9, 2017. Photo: AP

Such street violence over alleged negligence by municipalities is common in some poor areas of South Africa.

In another protest Tuesday, workers at the port in the South African coastal city of Richards Bay used bulldozers to overturn a police car. The Citizen newspaper says the demonstrators want better working conditions.

CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA