Additional police have been deployed to the Pretoria CBD where violent protests have brought the city to a standstill since Wednesday morning.
The protest was believed to have been sparked after a clash between taxi operators and alleged drug dealers that led to the fatal shooting of a taxi driver on Tuesday.
Several shops were looted and set alight.
Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela said police were not going to take “criminal elements lying down”.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: Violent protest flares up in Pretoria CBD after taxi shooting
“We have also observed that there is some criminal elements exploiting the situation, but the instruction is clear to our police officers that they must deal with those criminal elements and they must treat them as criminals,” he said.
“We have already mobilised additional members who have been deployed all over the city including Marabastad and Sunnyside,” he said.
Mawela said police would meet up with leaders from the taxi industry to discuss the “genuine grievances” to find a way forward.
“We will develop an action plan jointly with them to see how we can improve communication and safety and security around the taxi rank,” he said.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: Pretoria CBD engulfed in flames as shops set alight, looted
Speaking to members of the media amidst the chaos, Mawela said that there were information gatherers who were trying to establish whether the violence had some xenophobic elements to it.
“As and when we get information we will then put together a plan to mitigate whatever is put before us.”
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