Man arrested as fired MyCiti drivers protest at Cape Town civic centre

A 39-year-old man was arrested during clashes between police and fired MyCiti drivers at the civic centre in Cape Town on Thursday.

The protesters gathered outside the centre while newly elected mayor Dan Plato addressed the city council and took questions.

Police spokesperson Sgt Noloyiso Rwexana said a group of about 100 former drivers had gathered at the centre earlier on Thursday. Police fired stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

She said one person was arrested for contravening a court order.

Several MyCiti buses have been gutted around the city in the past few weeks.

On Tuesday, a driver of a MyCiti bus was seriously injured when his vehicle was petrol bombed in Woodstock, Cape Town.

Another MyCiti bus driver was forced to flee for his life in November after three "passengers" threw petrol inside a bus and set the vehicle alight.

This comes amid the company's decision to axe more than 80 of its drivers following a six-week unprotected strike. 

The drivers had been demanding that they be in-sourced by the city, which currently  uses contractors to employ drivers to operate its fleet.

Rwexana said police and other law enforcement agencies were monitoring the situation at the civic centre.