Siyabonga Kalipa
Cape Town - At least one road remained closed on Monday morning after violent protest action erupted in Dunoon again, with some protesters stoning cars and burning old furniture rubbish in roads, and others allegedly looting shops belonging to Somali traders.
The flare-up followed the City of Cape Town’s response to a memorandum of grievances backyard dwellers in the area handed in earlier this month.
There were unconfirmed reports that two people were shot dead by Somali shop owners on Sunday.
Police said 12 people were arrested on Sunday night in connection with violent protest action but had not been charged by the time of going to press.
Police spokeswoman Constable Noloyiso Rwexana said a case of public violence was opened for investigation on Monday morning.
Last month, protests broke out in Dunoon after backyard dwellers who had moved on to a piece of land along the N7 were moved off by the City of Cape Town. They had built structures, which were demolished. The protests prevented MyCiTi buses from operating in the area for at least a day.
On Monday morning, protester Xolani Hlekiso said they had given the city until last Friday to respond, but the city had responded late and had not given them what they asked for. He said some people in the area did not go to work because of the protest.
He also alleged two people were shot dead by angry Somali shopkeepers during the protest action yesterday and it was this that started a spate of looting.
“Now we don’t want any foreigners in Dunoon,” he said.
Hlekiso said the situation was “still tense” this morning and residents planned to meet to decide what to do next.
The city’s Robbie Roberts also said the situation in the area was still tense on Monday morning, with three different groups of people involved protest action.
He confirmed that several shops in the area had been looted by protesters.
Roberts said law enforcementmembers, traffic officers and police were deployed in and around the area, andPotsdam Road was still closed.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said the protesters were preventing children and residents from going to school and work.He said Potsdam road was still closed and police were on the scene monitoring the situation.
Several attempts to get comment from ward councillor Lubabalo Makeleni were unsuccessful on Monday morning.
Cape Argus