Over 7 000 protesters, carrying sticks and knobkerries, arrived at the Benoni Customer Care Centre, at the corner of Elston Avenue and Tom Jones Street, in separate groups on October 17, to hand over a memorandum.
The town was brought to a standstill for two hours, from 8am, and almost all the shops were closed for safety reasons.
The protesters, some as young as 10, vandalised a number of shops, stoned passing motorists, stole goods belonging to hawkers and upturned rubbish bins.
The door of the Department of Education was also broken in the process. No one has been arrested, despite all of this.
The situation calmed as both the SAPS and Metro Police started to arrive in numbers. A police helicopter was also hovering in the sky, to try to keep order.
The protesters were residents of the Actonville hostel and the informal settlements in Actonville and Wattville.
Residents said they wanted houses.
“We have been living in shacks for many years and we are tired of this,” said a woman who wanted to remain anonymous.
An Actonville Hostel resident said they have sewage running all over the hostel and that they were promised proper housing, but that nothing has naterialised.
After handing over their memorandum, the protesters tried to break down the Customer Care Centre fence, in order gain access to the premises, but police used stun grenades to disperse the crowed.
The protesters were then escorted out of town by a police officers. Benoni resident Stephen Frances (19) was beaten with sticks and robbed of his money and cellphone by unruly protesters.
He was walking along Elston Avenue when a mob of protesters pounced on him for no particular reason.
“I did nothing to these people, but they decided to beat me up and take my money and cellphone,” said Frances, who emerged from the crowd running for his life.
He showed the City Times the marks sticks left on his body. – The Citizen