Chamdor protest: one man killed
A police Casspir is allegedly the cause of one protester's death.
By the end of the second day of the protest that shook Chamdor, one man has died.
“It is believed that a police Casspir accidentally bumped and killed a man,” Papi Motaung, Mogale City’s Traffic Department spokesperson said.
A Casspir is a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle that has been in use in South Africa for decades.
The protest turned violent on Monday (25 January) when a vehicle was set alight, allegedly because residents did not want to leave the Tudor Shaft (Soul City) informal settlement. An area that has been declared unsafe after uranium deposits were found that have the potential of exposing people to radioactivity.
Children attending a nearby school were unable to pass Tudor Road and ended up spending the day on a pavement close to the road that had been blocked off with bricks and burning tyres.
On the second day, with the protesters not deterred by the teargas and rubber bullets, they came back. And by nightfall a man had been killed.
Motaung confirmed that this morning has not yet seen any more protesters.
Traffic has been congested for the past three days on Chamdor Road towards Voortrekker Road.
“This is because drivers who normally use Tudor Road now use either the M13 or Chamdor Road,” Motaung said.
It is not yet clear whether the protests will continue or when the road will be open.
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