Angry rioters barricade Rondebult Road
After months without electricity and water, angry residents of Comet, an old mining village, took to the streets on Monday morning, February 24, to express their anger.
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2014/02/IMG_5317_571997261.jpg)
Protesters ran amok from 2am until the afternoon on Monday, as they barricaded roads with stones, tree branches and burning tyres.
Early in the morning, they threw stones at a passing vehicle, and prevented anyone from entering or leaving the area, including school children and those who wanted to go to work.
Police, consisting out of the EMPD and the SAPS, responded swiftly, closing off the affected roads while warning motorists about the ongoing protest.
The protesters say they are fed-up with the municipality and its empty promises and want electricity and water within the next few weeks.
![Protestors demanded better services from government, such as running water, electricity and land.](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2014/02/P1280499_573762336-423x317.jpg)
They also want the metro to buy the land they occupy in order to build RDP houses for them. But officials say residents have to be patient as counsel is still in the process of obtaining the land from the owner, Living Africa Properties.
Residents say they had enough and can’t wait any longer, and that demonstrating is the only way to make their voices heard.
![Both the SAPS and the EMPD were on hand to secure some kind of order and law during the service protest that broke out in Comet on Monday. The crowd, numbering in their hundreds, burned tyres along Rondebult Road.](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2014/02/P1280468_550509386-423x317.jpg)
They are, thus, willing to do anything to get electricity, water and proper homes for their families.
Just after 10am, police fired rubber bullets at the protesters and threw a smoke bomb to disperse the crowd.
The crowd retaliated by pelting stones, bottles and other objects at the police.
A boy was caught in the line of fire, suffering a deep gash to his forehead.
By Monday afternoon, it was unclear what hit him. Residents claim that it is a rubber bullet fired by the police, but police say the boy was accidentally hit by a brick thrown at them by one of the protesters.
Residents say police started shooting rubber bullets for nothing, as they were protesting peacefully and posed no danger to anyone.
The stand-off cooled down only after the MMC for Community Safety, Mthuthuzeli Siboza, arrived to address the angry crowd.
He promised residents that their issues will be attended to.
Also view the site under galleries for more photos.
![This boy was allegedly hit by a rubber bullet fired by the police to disperse the crowd during the service protest action in Comet on Monday, February 24.](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2014/02/IMG_5218_535060285-423x317.jpg)