As the national shutdown gatherings get under way across the country, Police Minister Bheki Cele said 87 people have been arrested so far.
Of the eighty-seven arrested, 41 were arrested in Gauteng, 29 in North West, 15 in Free State. There are also arrests in other provinces such as Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape. Updates will be provided as and when information becomes available.
Cele was addressing the media today. He said the most arrests come from Gauteng, followed by the Free State and then KwaZulu-Natal.
He said police and private security companies have also confiscated 24 300 tyres from under bridges and road intersections in hot spot areas around the country, 6000 were seized in the Western Cape, 4500 in the Free State, 3600 in Gauteng, 1513 in the Eastern Cape and a few in other provinces.
On Sunday night, police used stun grenades to disperse students in Braamfontein.
“Police detected that there were problems where people were blocking the road and others were standing on the roofs of cars. Police had to make a call for them to stop and they couldn’t stop so police had to use minimum force, they used stun grenades and not rubber bullets. People were arrested,” Cele said.
The EFF said the students have been released.
Cele said police are working with private security companies to quickly curb violent protests.
In KwaZulu-Natal, a security officer was injured in a squirmish with residents on the N2/M1 in the Durban south area.
“On arrival on scene a male security officer was found to have sustained a fractured arm when a brick was thrown at his patrol vehicle by protesters in the Link Road area,” said Emer-G-Med spokesperson, Kyle van Reenen.
He said the officer was treated and stabilised on scene before being taken to a nearby hospital for further care.
Meanwhile, law enforcement services have been deployed along the N3 in KZN after sporadic attempts had been made to obstruct the toll route in KZN, in the vicinity of the Bergville Interchange.
The N3TC said although these incidents have been cleared, road users are requested to remain vigilant and to immediately report any problems or potential threats to the 24-hour N3 Helpline on 0800 63 43 57 or via @N3Route on Twitter.
IOL