- Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato was “appalled” at attacks on a vehicle for the disabled this week.
- The City also condemned an attack on a News24 journalist who was covering a protest.
- Eskom and Dial-A-Ride have withdrawn from volatile areas until it is safe to return.
Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato on Tuesday condemned attacks on a News24 journalist and a transport vehicle for the disabled in Khayelitsha.
The incidents on Monday followed a full week of protests and land occupations across the area and other surrounding areas of Cape Town.
Two passengers and a driver sustained head injuries when the Dial-A-Ride vehicle was stoned late in the afternoon.
One of the passengers was admitted to hospital and was discharged on Tuesday morning.
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Police, military and law enforcement officials were monitoring around 100 people who were part of a land occupation protest at Mew Way bridge on Tuesday morning.
“It is disturbing and upsetting that a City service which assists those with special needs who cannot make use of conventional transport, has been the subject of an attack. I am appalled at the actions of the perpetrators and call on the authorities to bring these callous criminals to book,” said Plato.
Volatile
Transport mayoral committee member Felicity Purchase said they could not continue to offer the Dial-A-Ride service in the area because the situation was too volatile.
“It is a disgrace that we have now reached a point where protesters are focusing their anger and criminality on the vulnerable,” she said.
News24 journalist Jenni Evans was injured and robbed while covering the violence.
Today a group of men threw rocks at my head and car and stole my phone in Khayelitsha while I was saying I am a journalist. I have a gash on my head. I was there to find out why people are angry. Thank you to the kind Site B SAPS for calming me. #handsoffjournalists #StopGBV
— Jenni Evans (@itchybyte) July 20, 2020
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The areas where there had been attempts to illegally occupy land, City projects or community facilities included Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Wallacedene, Delft, Dunoon, Firgrove, Milnerton and Nyanga.
On Monday, a bus was damaged and an Eskom vehicle torched during a protest in Khayelitsha.
Eskom indicated it was withdrawing its services in parts of Khayelitsha and Bardale in Mfuleni until it was safe to return.
On Saturday morning, a brand-new Covid-19 facility was torched in Khayelitsha, days after it was opened.
Four people were arrested for public violence.
News24 reported that the attack on the facility was allegedly in retaliation for a thwarted land occupation attempt in nearby Mfuleni.
