Cape Town - A truck driver’s face was badly cut and his vehicle severely damaged when protesters believed to be linked to the construction industry strike threw rocks, hammers and other tools at vehicles on the Stellenbosch Arterial road near Westbank on Tuesday.
Police confirmed that incidents of violence linked to labour disputes were being monitored on Tuesday morning.
Trouble had been brewing at Mew Way and at Hindle Road off the R300, said police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut.
The truck driver, who works for Cape Air Conditioning, told his managers he was transporting workers to the company’s premises in Brackenfell when a crowd suddenly formed and people began throwing stones and even tools at vehicles.
Company spokeswoman Liesl Engels said the driver, who was taken to hospital, said motorists around him jumped out of their cars and fled.
“Our driver was struck in the face and the truck was badly damaged. He was able to turn around and drive away, but by then the damage was done,” Engels said.
Traut said a crowd at Hindle Road had hurled stones at a bus, which had then collided with another vehicle. No one was injured, he said. “The SAPS will remain on high alert to prevent situations of violence.”
Tuesday morning’s incidents follow violence on Monday in which strikers looted a building site.
Cape Argus