Pretoria – In only 24 hours, 136 people have been arrested in connection with the looting and violence which took place in Atteridgeville this past week.
Acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane said details of those arrested were still being processed.
"In Atteridgeville, protesters started much earlier by blocking roads and prohibiting taxis from moving freely."
"The group from the concerned Mamelodi residents group embarked on a legal march but a group from Atteridgeville who were responsible for the pelting of police vehicles, looting and acts of violence we're on an illegal march," he told journalists in Pretoria.
He cautioned those involved in unlawful acts that these would not be tolerated, and those found committing these crimes would be brought to book.
Phahlane also said videos and voice messages being circulated on social media platforms of chaos in Joburg were in fact false and taken from protests which took place in 2015.
He added the situation in Pretoria is under control at the moment after violence erupted earlier during a march against illegal foreign nationals.