Street vendors and police clash in the CBD
Police clashed with street vendors in the Springs CBD after they confiscated merchandise.
A scene erupted on the corner of Fifth Street and Fifth Avenue, in the Springs Central Business District, when an Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) minivan arrived, to confiscate goods being sold on the sidewalk by street vendors.
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EMPD spokesman Wilfred Kgasago says a complaint was received at 10am from a business in the vicinity, saying that illegal hawkers were plying their trade and causing problems.
“Metro police officers and Peace Corps members arrived in a sedan and a minivan, to confiscate the merchandise, and the vendors struck back, pelting them with rocks, breaking two of the minivan’s windows and injuring four Peace Corps members,” says Kgasago.
Two of the injured were taken to Parklands Hospital for medical attention.
Vendor John Matsiye says he has been selling sunglasses in the same spot for over six months and had just purchased R1 500 worth of stock over the weekend.
“It is all gone and it is not right,” says Matsiye.
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“I have five children at home that I need to feed and send to school,” he says.
The EMPD registered charges at the Springs Police Station.
While the perpetrators are still on the run, investigations are underway in order to apprehend them.
