Man killed by vehicle as protesters stone cars in Cape Town for second day

Cape Town motorists were expected to endure a second day of traffic disruptions on Wednesday due to protesters barricading roads and reports of cars being stoned.

Reports of a fatality believed to be related to the protests came in early on Wednesday.

A man thought to be a protester died after he was struck by a truck in Kraaifontein, where vehicles were being stoned.

It was reported earlier on Wednesday, quoting Cape Town traffic services, that the pedestrian was believed to have been hit by a Golden Arrow bus. The company said this was not the case.

In a brief statement, Golden Arrow said: “Please note that a Golden Arrow bus did not hit a pedestrian. It was a truck.”

On Tuesday Cape Town’s public order police had their hands full dealing with “service delivery protests” which resulted in the N2 and other roadways being closed for much of the morning.

On Wednesday Cape Town traffic services spokesperson Richard Coleman said reports were coming in of cars being stoned in the Kraaifontein area, near Old Paarl Road and Maroela Road.

Coleman said the adult male died after being struck by a vehicle on Botfontein Road, resulting in the road being closed between La Boheme Road and Maroela Road.

Old Faure Road, where new informal settlements were established in the Driftsands nature reserve last year, was closed briefly between Spine Road and Mew Way on Wednesday morning after protesters set tyres alight in the road and stoned vehicles.

This is the second day of protests in the city.

“Public order police and police officials from local police stations had their hands full trying to quell a number of service delivery protests that saw major roads, including the N2 highway, closed in Cape Town on Tuesday morning,” said Western Cape police spokesperson Brig Novela Potelwa.

“The protests, which started in the early morning, affected the N2 highway in both directions, Mew Way, Baden Powell, the R300 and Hindle Road. Rubble and tyres were burnt by groups of about 50 to 60 protesters.”

According to Potelwa, as the morning progressed, the protesters moved to the following areas:

• the corner of Mew Way and Spine Road in Khayelitsha;
• Spine Road in Ilitha Park near False Bay College; and
• Spine Road and Jafta K Masemola in Town Two in Khayelitsha.

She said when the police approached the groups, the protesters scattered in different directions but reconvened later.

On Wednesday, protesters shifted their locations and soon after police dispersed them from Old Faure Road they had closed down Eersteriver Road.

Potelwa said public order police would continue to monitor the protests.

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