Chaotic scenes erupted outside the hijacked Cape York in the Johannesburg CBD amid a stand-off between occupants of the derelict building and a vigilante group comprising of at least 20 members on the evening of 6 July.
Despite being armed with sjamboks (whips), stones and bottles were hurled at the civilian watch group, resulting in at least two of its members sustaining serious head injuries. The incident follows the fire that erupted at the building at about 8.30am on 5 July – reportedly claiming the lives of seven people and injuring another five. Brigadier Ivan Perumal, Johannesburg Central Police Station Commander said that the fire, which started on the third floor of the building, was extinguished and the building declared unsafe. As a result, hundreds of the building’s displaced occupants have been barred from entry while forensic fire investigations are being conducted, and have resorted to sleeping outside shops and residential buildings situated near Cape York, overnight.
Meanwhile, a joint policing effort between the Metro police and the South African police has been deployed at the building. According to Manqoba Khumalo, a member of the civilian watch group, the rift was incited when Cape York’s occupants were asked to move in order for the area to be cleaned.
“They retaliated after we politely requested that they move in order for us to clean the area where there are residential buildings and shops,” said Khumalo. “We arrived this morning. We were not called upon by any organisation but rather, move around and maintain peace and order on our own accord.”
He added, “At around 10am, a Pakistani national was robbed of his stock while a woman had her bag snatched from her.”
Khumalo indicated that police weren’t helpful in staving off the mob during the stand-off, despite being armed with rubber bullets. “Police simply looked on while we were being attacked. They arrived 10 minutes back but did nothing to assist us.”
Attempts to obtain comments from the police were unsuccessful at the time of publication. Calm has, however, been restored. City Buzz will provide further updates once more information is made available.
[f] Get the latest news by simply adding 079 439 5345 to your WhatsApp contact list.
