The Ekhurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) has confirmed that four people have been killed during the Tembisa service delivery protest on Monday.
The bodies of two people were found near the Customer Care Centre on Monday afternoon, where the Municipal Centre was set alight. This brings the death toll to four as two other people were allegedly shot dead earlier on. The cause of deaths of the two people near the Municipal Centre is unknown yet.
The first and second victims were allegedly killed in the crossfire between the protesters and the officers. Several vehicles belonging to the City of Ekurhuleni have been torched. The angry residents are protesting against the high cost of electricity, water, as well as rates and taxes.
“We do confirm that four fatalities have been recorded in the Tembisa protest action. The two emanated from when we were doing our inspection at the CCC and we discovered two fatalities. The first two IPID is currently handling the case,” says EMPD spokesperson Kelebogile Thepe.
Speaking to Power FM on Monday evening, Tania Campbell, the mayor of Ekurhuleni said she had already spoke to the chief of police about the deaths and consequence management can only take place once the investigations have been concluded.
“It is a sad situation, I send my condolences not only to those families but the community as well. What happened today should never have happened because the Tembisa community forum is not violent, but what happened today is that external forces changed it into a violent situation,” Campbell said.
The angry Tembisa residents called for Campbell to meet with them after she did not show up at the meeting they expected to have with her.
Source: News24, IOL, The Citizen, SABC News, image from Twitter