‘Cops did not fire live ammo in PE’

Photo: @HEEL_Darewolf

Photo: @HEEL_Darewolf

Published Jul 27, 2015

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Port Elizabeth - Allegations that police used live ammunition on protesters in Port Elizabeth were untrue, a police spokesperson has said.

Protests erupted in Port Elizabeth’s northern areas on Monday morning, in anger over the alleged closure of schools and a lack of teachers.

Parents, pupils and even taxi drivers reportedly took part in the protests, with protesters also complaining about a lack of infrastructure at the schools.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Miranda Mills said that police had to use stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse protesters.

“We did not fire any live ammunition. Shots [of live ammunition] were fired at the police,” she said.

“It has calmed down a lot. The situation is slowly returning to normal. There are negotiations taking place at the moment,” Mills said.

Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said that three people had been arrested and were facing charges of public violence.

She said it was difficult to determine number of protesters involved, because protesters would regroup in small numbers over large areas before being dispersed.

She said initial reports indicated that three people had been injured, but warned that this figure could rise.

“We are busy clearing the roads and opening them to traffic. We still have a high presence in these areas and are monitoring the situation,” said Janse van Rensburg.

Eastern Cape education department spokesman Loyiso Pulumani said the protests followed the closure of 23 schools in the area by the Northern Areas Forum civil movement.

“This was the catalyst for today’s protests. We have been shocked by the violence. This (the violence) has nothing to do with the issues. We didn’t close the schools.”

He said that the Northern Areas Forum had closed the schools at the start of the third term last week.

Pulumani said that Eastern Cape education department’s acting superintendent general Ray Tywakadi held a meeting on Sunday night with the school governing bodies of schools from the city’s northern areas.

He said that at that meeting, the main issues raised were the number of teaching vacancies that had been caused by natural attrition and promotions.

There was also dissatisfaction that non-teaching posts had also not been filled.

The third issue that had been raised by the school governing bodies was the conversion of schools to section 21 schools - schools that manage their own budgets.

He said that agreement had been reached on these three issues and that principals had been expected to report to the department’s district offices on Tuesday to begin the process of filling vacant posts.

The Northern Areas Forum could not immediately be reached for comment.

ANA

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