Cape Town - Residents caused chaos in Langa for a second day as they demanded houses.
The group burnt tyres and furniture on Bhunga Avenue and Washington Road, and the busy arterial roads were again closed on Tuesday.
Police used rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, shooting one person in the leg and another in the arm.
Protesters campaigned for housing allocation for a hostel that was being built in the area to be sped up.
They say many of them still live with their parents or in someone’s backyard, and it angers them to see people from other areas getting houses in Langa while they have to wait.
The hostel is in its first phase and one of the Western Cape’s largest projects aimed at redressing past injustices, according to the City of Cape Town.
Protests began at 4am on Tuesday morning, and the violence has caused the city to suspend construction on their flagship hostel transformation project in the township.
Councillor Benedicta van Minnen for Human Settlements explained that the city met with protesters to discuss their concerns.
She said: “But the youth have refused to co-operate, even threatening to inhabit the first few apartments within the hostel, which are now ready for occupation.”
According to police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana, one person was arrested on a charge of public violence.
Langa residents say they are angry and frustrated at not being included in the new developments taking place.
Nomancube Galo, 40, said she’s unsuccessfully applied for housing three times.
She said: “My father (who was on the waiting list) died before getting a house.”
Van Minnen said to date, 463 units have been built on the Old Depot Site in Langa during the first phase, and over the next five years, 1 300 more units would be built.
She added that this phase of the project would “accommodate all qualifying residents in various hostels such as New Flats and Special Quarters areas and also qualifying residents from the Siyahlala informal settlement”.
“We will not allow this group of protesters, with their narrow and mischievous interests, to delay our project,” she warned.
Daily Voice