Port Elizabeth - Port Elizabeth police in the Eastern Cape arrested five suspects on Tuesday after violent protest action erupted in the Gelvandale and Bethelsdorp areas.
Protesters barricaded the main roads with burning tyres and stones. The affected roads included Standford Road, Gail Road and other roads in the Helenvale area and along the Bethelsdorp Road.
Booysens Park Clinic was also closed after staff and patients were chased away by an angry mob. Health department spokesperson, Lwandile Sicwetsha said that police were called to move the crowds away from the clinic.
A bus was also set alight.
It’s understood that residents in the Vastrap area were protesting over service delivery and housing issues.
Police spokesperson, Captain Sandra Janse Van Rensburg said Public Order Police were deployed to Bethelsdorp and Gelvandale.
She said that two men and three women, aged between 28 and 35, were detained under the Criminal Matters Amendment Act, Gatherings Act and the National Road Traffic Act.
Video: Supplied to ANA via CCPEM
Janse Van Rensburg said police would remain in the area to monitor the situation.
“Police are warning the community that although they have the right to protest, they should do so within the ambit of the law and not cause damages to infrastructure and blocking the roads.”
The suspects will appear in the Gelvandale Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
Motorists are advised to use alternative routes.