Johannesburg residents barricaded roads and burnt tyres in the CBD in protest against the death of a 28-year-old man during a police search-and-seizure operation on Monday.
Metro police spokesperson Xolani Fihla said their officers together with police were at the scene.
“Our primary investigation has established residents are aggrieved over the death of one of their compatriots. At this stage, the cause of death is unknown to us and police will investigate.”
Members of the public were cautioned to avoid the area, while motorists were advised to use alternative routes.
Police have managed to disperse a group of protesters who earlier blocked off Commissioner and Nugget Street in the Johannesburg CBD.
According to police a group of illegal foreign nationals embarked on a protest after a resident was allegedly killed by officers who were conducting a drug raid on Monday morning.
The group also attacked police with rocks and stoned some of their vehicles. Thirteen people have been arrested for public violence.
Major General Max Masha said IPID will investigate the incident.
“At around 03:30 this morning our police came here on information about drug dealing in this place and they were busy with a search operation and during that operation a member of the public passed on, as a result, the community felt that they were not happy with the situation.
“But form our side as the police we called IPID and we called the pathologist, so we can ensure that everything is transparent and we are not hiding anything, but the issue was the police were here in their normal duty to rid this area of drugs.”
Source: News24, Eyewitness News, Jacaranda FM, SABC News, Sowetan Live, image from Twitter: @MDNnewss