Rioters demand that alleged murderers leave
A rival illegal mining group allegedly murdered two Makhulugama residents.
Road users had to dodge boulders and burning tyres after residents of the Makhulugama informal settlement on Tom Muller Street near West Village barricaded the road and started throwing rocks at passing cars.
It is believed the protest and uprising, which erupted on Friday, 26 May, was due to two alleged murders which occurred the previous night in the settlement. Infuriated residents told riot police they would not remove the barricade until members of a rival group – whom they believed were responsible for the deaths – vowed that they would never return.
Read initial article here: Foreigners shot in mob justice incident
The settlement’s residents are immigrants from African countries such as Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique. Most of them do not have the correct documentation to live in South Africa.
The residents of both settlements mostly work as illegal miners, and feel threatened by the presence of each other.
The residents also threw rocks at passing trains from a nearby railway bridge, and dented several carriages. Members of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa had to force the residents back into the settlement to prevent injury to the train’s passengers.
The Railway Police were contacted, but did not come to the scene.
The riot police negotiated with the residents and, once the situation had calmed down, moved the boulders to the side of the road.
The Makhulugama residents were still unhappy about the alleged murders of their people, but went back to their homes after police left the scene.
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