Thembelihle quiet overnight: SAPS

28 February 2015 - 13:01 By Sapa
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PROTEST ACTION: Lack of service delivery resulted in violence in Thembelihle, Johannesburg this week. File photo
PROTEST ACTION: Lack of service delivery resulted in violence in Thembelihle, Johannesburg this week. File photo
Image: SIMON MATHEBULA

The mood in Thembelihle on Saturday morning was quiet, following a week of chaos and unrest, Gauteng police said.

"It is quiet. Police are still in the area monitoring the situation," Lieutenant Kay Makhubela said.

He said the number of people arrested was now at 34.

Police have been monitoring Thembelihle, Tsakane, Dobsonville, Doornkop, Vereeniging and Springs this week, following unrest activity.

Nine people were arrested after a foreign national was cornered in his shop in Doornkop, Soweto, on Thursday.

His shop was petrol-bombed and he was set alight. The man was hospitalised with serious injuries.

The group was expected to appear in the Dobsonville Magistrate's Court on charges of public violence, attempted murder and possession of illegal firearm and ammunition.

A foreign shop owner was arrested in Snakepark for possession of an unlicensed firearm. Three other people were arrested for damaging property after they allegedly threw stones at passing vehicles.

Meanwhile, a man has been arrested following a clash between the Indian community from Lenasia and black people from Thembelihle.

"We have now charged a suspect who was arrested for firing shots at protesters in Thembelihle, leading to a community member being injured," said Lt-Gen Solomon Makgale.

Twenty people were arrested for public violence in Lenasia on Thursday.

Makhubela said previously that a large number of Thembelihle residents had blocked a road and tried to burn down a house.

"They were throwing petrol bombs at the house. The police managed to disperse them," he said.

They would appear in the Protea Magistrate's Court on Monday.

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