Johannesburg - Members of the Ennerdale community are split over protests which have been ongoing since Tuesday.
As running battles continued between police and protesters with the latter retaliating with firecrackers and rocks, some residents came forward and shouted that the police were out of line.
"We are fighting for better houses and better conditions. We started doing this peacefully and the police are ones who made this violent," said resident Felicia van Jaarsveld.
"We were just sitting here with the children watching and they shot rubber bullets," added another resident who asked to remain anonymous.
"We are not fighting for fun here, we are fighting for our children and their well-being," she said.
The group who spoke to The Star were supportive of the protests, however, this was not the case for a second group watching the chaos several streets away.
One resident who called himself Mr Jansen said he understood the reasons for the protests and supported the idea of the cause but not the violence that's come with it.
"This is now criminal. We were told by the leaders that the protests must stop because they were giving time for the officials to respond.
"But these people are drug addicts and criminals are hijacking what was a peaceful movement," he said.
"It's unfair that we have been ignored but the City of Joburg has heard us and we want to give them a chance. This must stop," said resident Daniel van Heerder.
As the sporadic violence continued and tyres burned, police later called in another Nyala which charged and dispersed the crowd.