Teen shot by police left with gaping hole in his mouth

A 14-year-old boy who was shot in the face with rubber bullets in Hout Bay has been left with a gaping wound in his mouth.

"Ona can't eat. He is struggling,'' his mother Pinky Dubula said.

"It is going to be difficult for him now that he has a hole in his mouth."

Ona was shot by police during protests in Hangberg, Hout Bay, on Tuesday. Doctors at Cape Town's Groote Schuur Hospital operated on him on Wednesday to remove a rubber bullet from his mouth.

Images and a video of officers opening fire on the child, who was hiding behind a table, have gone viral. 

Dubula said on Thursday she had not eaten and had been at her son's side since he was taken to hospital.

Dubula said her son had gone to see what people were protesting about but found himself in a dangerous situation.

Residents from Hangberg were protesting about fishing quotas and service delivery.

On Thursday construction equipment was set alight by residents who used it to block an entrance into Hangberg. Police responded by firing teargas at about 100 protesters.

When community leader Ben James Joseph Rastafari was asked if he could control the protesters, he said: "I haven't got control. If I go and speak the people can moer me [beat me]."