Pretoria - The three days of violent protests that engulfed City of Tshwane townships have left five dead and about 200 people behind bars.
Two bodies were found at the Central City shopping mall in Mabopane on Thursday as the unrest and looting continued in townships.
Police found one body at the mall while the second was found in a nearby house.
Two bodies were found in Mamelodi on Wednesday. A man died in hospital on Sunday after being shot at a meeting at the Tshwane events centre. Police said they had almost 200 people who will be charged with public violence and possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition. Additional charges of possession of stolen property and malicious damage to property will be laid against them and they will appear in courts around the city.
Police said the situation had calmed down on Thursday but appealed to people to remain calm. He said police would continue to monitor the situation.
They raised concerns about images posted on social media platforms portraying police officials taking part in the looting during the recent riots.
The SAPS said they condemned the distribution of the images as they tarnished the image of the police and were misleading. “The members were in no way involved in any act of criminality and were retrieving stolen goods from looters utilising minimum force,” read a statement.
TMPD executive director Console Tleane said the situation was relatively calm on Thursday in Mabopane, Soshanguve and Mamelodi which were the epicentres of the disturbances. “We want to assure people the city will ensure services are less disrupted. TMPD and the SAPS continue to deploy heavily in all affected areas.” City manager Jason Ngobeni appealed to people not to re-block cleared roads.
Pretoria News