TENSION mounted at Blue Lagoon earlier today when members of the public and Metro Police officers clashed over unlicenced vehicles, illegal parking and bribery allegations.
A post shared on Facebook by the Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) claimed that authorities used tear gas to disperse a protesting crowd of enraged residents as they become increasingly angry.
One person is also said to have been arrested after he slapped a policeman.
The heated incident allegedly ensued after Metro officer had begun issuing fines to residents who had illegally parked their vehicles on the pavement.
One of the residents then confronted the officers with bribery allegations, which suggested that the officers only allowed certain people to park illegally, if they paid them a bribe.
The posts also claimed that the Metro officers at one point blocked the resident’s vehicle with theirs, and called for a tow truck to remove his vehicle from the scene.
The incident soon became volatile as the resident protested against the removal of his vehicle, and a large crowd began to form around the dispute.
The entire crowd of approximately 200 people are said to have turned on the Metro officers after they discovered that the licence of one of the Metro vehicles had expired at the end of last month.
The infuriated crowd demanded that the officers be charged for driving an unlicensed vehicle
Several backup vehicles allegedly responded to the scene to assist with the disgruntled residents.
