LIMPOPO – The Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba has condemned the violent nature of the protesters who torched a councillors house, a municipal building and four farms during service delivery protests at Alma village in the Modimolle cluster.
This after the police on Tuesday arrested three women following acts of public violence that had erupted on Monday, 12 August.
In a statement, Police Spokesperson Col Moatshe Ngoepe said the police were alerted about a situation were protesters had barricaded roads in the areas using burning tyres.
Upon arrival they arrested three women who were linked to the public violence and the situation was brought under control, he added.
Later the same day the same group mobilised and set alight four farms, a house belonging to a local councillor and a municipal office.
The police rushed to the scene but on arrival found all the buildings burned to ashes. Reinforcements from the Public Order Police and the cluster members were summoned to the area and the situation was brought under control. The local municipality was engaged and the mayor and his representatives thereafter addressed the community’s grievances over service delivery, Ngoepe explained.
The three women, aged 23, 24 and 38, have since appeared in the Modimolle Magistrate’s Court on charges of public violence. They were all released on a warning while police investigations are still continuing and will appear again in the same court on 5 September.
The police are still tracing more suspects involved in the public violence and those involved in the arson incidents, and appeal to anyone with information that can lead to their arrest, to contact Rankin’s Pass Police Station at 014 721 0611, the crime stop number at 0860010111or the nearest police station.
General Ledwaba advised residents in the area to respect the rule of the law by staging peaceful protests.
