According to our reporter on the ground, Sipho Zama, Mayor Vincent Madlala had been addressing a crowd of over a thousand protesters who were blocking the Driefontein Road. Things were going calmly up until the protesters asked him to drink water from the area. They held up a cool-drink bottle filled with brown water and demanded that he drink it.

When a lady approached him with the bottle, the mayoral security team warned her to keep her distance. He continued to address the crowd, telling them that what they were doing was wrong. “It’s wrong to use violence to address your issues,” said the mayor in IsiZulu.

Police were standing nearby, equally relaxed. The crowd started moving back. Everyone was under the impression that the crowd was going to disperse when they suddenly turned and began hurling stones and rocks at the mayor and his entourage in a clearly well-timed and planned attack.

The police, caught flat-footed, hastily began distributing shotguns and rubber bullets to nearby officers as they realised they faced a full-scale riot. The officers began firing at the crowd while dodging rocks and stones.

The mayor made a hasty retreat to his car and pulled behind the police line.

He then watched as police drove the crowd back using tear gas and rubber bullets.

Heavy police patrols have been carried out since the attack. Fears that it may escalate tonight and tomorrow have forced police to deploy more officers to the area.

During the incident, our reporter came under attack and his car was damaged by a rock.