It was guerrilla warfare at the Princess informal settlement on the West Rand on Wednesday morning as police clashed with protesters.
Rubber bullets were fired, tyres were burnt and Main Reef Road was closed off.
Groups of protesters ran back and forth along the curved roads of the informal settlement as police tried to stop the chaos.
The unrest began early on Wednesday morning as Princess residents left bricks, stones and burning debris along a stretch of Main Reef Road in Roodepoort.
Police arrived to find several hundred protesters in the road.
It took police several hours to clear the road, but by 11am they were still engaged in battle as the protesters started new fires the moment police moved from a particular trouble spot.
According to police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Wilken police and metro police officers managed to disperse several hundred protesters who had gathered in the area in the early hours.
By about 8.30am the road had been reopened.
Soon afterwards, however, a woman called Talk Radio 702 to say stones were being thrown at her car.
Wilken confirmed the incident, saying residents had been waiting to ambush any passing cars with stones and bricks.
“We were forced to close the road again and we will meet every half-hour to see if we can reopen it. The situation is under control,” he said.
The protest began after residents of the settlement were told that they were to be moved from the area, apparently to Orange Farm.
But police have denied this claim, saying it was a rumour spread to incite violence.
Several protesters said they were told this in a meeting yesterday by a former councillor.
Two of the area’s ward councillors, Carl Mann and Gert Niemand, also said it was the ex-councillor of ward 71, Alfred Mudau, who spread the rumour.
According to Mann, the only relocation of residents that was planned would be later this year to a temporary housing settlement two or three kilometres down the road.
The purpose of the move was to clear the area for RDP housing plots, which would then be given to the displaced families.
“There is no move to Orange Farm,” he said.
But residents were unconvinced, saying they trusted their previous councillor and did not want to move even if it was just “down the road”, Mann said.
Mudau arrived at the settlement on Wednesday morning, but he refused to speak to the media. - The Star