WATCH | Rubber bullets fly in Westbury
Numerous protesting residents of Westbury in Johannesburg were injured on Monday as police tried to disperse them.
Police fired rubber bullets at the crowd who had littered the streets with burning tyres and debris.
The streets in #Westbury are littered with rocks, rubble and garbage. #WestburyShutdown @TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/ZZbIKCl84b
— Iavan Pijoos (@iavanpijoos) October 1, 2018
TimesLIVE witnessed a woman limping as she was assisted by other residents and taken to the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital for medical attention.
She had also been shot and wounded in the arm.
A woman was hit by a rubber bullet during the #WestburyProtest. #WestburyShutdown @TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/JX9ppquwwE
— Iavan Pijoos (@iavanpijoos) October 1, 2018
Meanwhile‚ as the rubber bullets flew‚ crowds hurled objects at the police. A man was hit with a brick on his head during the fracas.
Police fire rubber bullets to disperse protesters in #Westbury on Monday. #WestburyShutdown @TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/GD6ZsqQtKS
— Iavan Pijoos (@iavanpijoos) October 1, 2018
A resident who asked not to be named said they wanted police to be deployed in the area. She accused current members of the force policing the area of arresting drug dealers only to let them free the next day.
“We have funerals in this area every single weekend. People die here‚ we are not safe‚" she said.
Unrest erupted in the area last week after a 45-year-old woman was shot dead during a shootout between three men. A 10-year-old girl was wounded in the incident.
Residents vowed to shut down the area to mourn her death and called on government to deploy the army to clean up the drug-ridden area.
Two men were expected to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges of murder and attempted murder related to the shooting of the woman and child.
Two others were due to appear in the same court on public violence charges.
Protesters have now gathered outside the Sophiatown police station. Armed police officers stand at the gates of the station. #WestburyShutdown @TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/c5vIQf5R7n
— Iavan Pijoos (@iavanpijoos) October 1, 2018
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