City chaos erupts as protesters loot stalls

27 March 2015 - 02:01 By Jerome Cornelius

A mob of protesters who charged through Cape Town city centre yesterday mugged a bystander, looted vendors' stalls and vandalised property. Hundreds of members of Ses'Khona, known as the "poo protesters", marched to the Western Cape legislature to demand that grievances about a lack of housing delivery be heard.Ses'Khona leader Andile Lili urged the crowd to mobilise in townships and return to the city centre with 300000 people.In St George's Mall, a man who had bought coffee was caught up in the melee and assaulted by a man believed to be a protester.The attack was seen by The Times photographer Esa Alexander. "When the protesters came, the man with the coffee tried to run away. They got hold of him and pulled at his bag," he said."The man fought back and when one of the attackers pulled his bag out of his hand the victim fell to the ground. The thief ran into the crowd before the guy could get back up. It was chaos."The protesters looted informal traders and took iron rods from stalls. They attacked bystanders, but dispersed when they were chased by police.Police Captain FC van Wyk said one man had been arrested for possession of stolen goods from a vendor."We urge people to come forward with information," he said...

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