A woman feared her baby would die after they were tear-gassed by police during violent protests.
Tiny Osulwa Bushula was one of the innocent victims of the mayhem that has unfolded on the mean streets of Villiersdorp since Monday.
The normally quiet town has been transformed into a war zone during 48 hours of running battles between police and protesters.
Armed police officers fired rubber bullets at protesters after they came under a hail of bricks and stones.
Many innocent bystanders also got caught up in the chaos.
Baby Osulwa’s terrified mom Thumeka tells the Daily Voice: “My face and lungs burnt and I covered my child with blankets to prevent the tear gas from burning her as well, but it did not help.
“My baby cried the whole night and even struggled to breathe at some points.”
The distraught mother could not take her baby girl to the clinic because it was closed as a result of the riots.
And the Villiersdorp Periodic Court was also disrupted by the rioting which engulfed the usually-quiet town.
Cases that were scheduled for Tuesday were postponed or transferred to the Caledon Magistrates’ Court.
On Monday, protesters set community halls and a fire truck alight and the streets were littered with burning tyres.
The authorities had prayed there would not be a repeat of the violence, but their hopes were dashed early in the morning when the rioters took to the streets again.
However, this time, police were better prepared – they placed a ring of steel around the under-siege town and enforced an effective lockdown to keep the rioters at bay.
And by lunchtime, a sense of uneasy calm descended.
Angry protesters Tuesday night claimed they came under fire without any warning from the police.
But community leaders urged residents to remain calm.
“Leave the councillors’ houses alone. Leave our churches alone. Leave the schoolchildren alone,” Simon McKenzie warned the crowd.
McKenzie also insists the chaotic protest action was not political.
He claims the only reason for the violence was because of residents’ unhappiness about poor service delivery in the Theewaterskloof Municipality.
The community is also left counting the cost of the burning of local halls and the fire truck.
Overberg Fire and Rescue Services’ head Reinard Geldenhuys estimates it will cost more than R1 million to replace the vehicle.
“Despite the truck being burnt, it is also being stripped now as we could not remove it because the people were too riotous,” he tells the Daily Voice.
Geldenhuys adds that it is the only fire truck in the small town.
One fireman was also injured when protesters threw stones at the truck.
“He suffered a cut on his forehead when he was hit with a stone,” adds Geldenhuys.
Some residents claim locals were threatened and dragged out of their houses to join in the march, and others were forbidden from going to work.
Pastor Danie Bantom, 38, says his three kids were dragged into the march by protesters against their will.
“The people must consider each other and the police also,” Pastor Bantom tells the Daily Voice.
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk says cops will continue to monitor the area over the coming days.
“The police are still maintaining high visibility in the area by doing patrols,” he says.
Community leaders were last night still locked in discussions with authorities in a bid to bring an end to the protests.
And Theewaterskloof Municipality spokesman Stiffie Cronje says: “Because so many municipal workers could not attend work as a result of the chaos, the damages have not estimated yet.”
*This article was published in the Daily Voice