LIMPOPO -Twelve people were arrested for public violence, arson and malicious damage to property following an incident outside Makhado where residents went on a rampage and destroyed properties belonging to the local chief and a mine in the area.
The violence erupted at ga-Muila village in the early hours of Saturday.
According to Spokesperson for the police, Col Moatshe Ngoepe the protesters went on the rampage and burned down the house of the local Chief at Kwaaidraai including the houses of two headmen. They then torched six vehicles and properties belonging to a local mine.
The damage caused is estimated at over R3 million. The motive behind the incident is not yet clear, but ongoing police investigation will tell, Ngoepe said.
The arrested suspects, aged between 20 and 30, will appear before the local magistrate court soon and more arrests are expected.
The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba has strongly condemned this incident and has warned all the persons not to take the law into their own hands. “All the arrested suspects will be processed like any other suspect and no amount of pressure will lead to their release prematurely,” concluded General Ledwaba.
Members of the Public Order Police have since stabilised the situation, Ngoepe concluded.
