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| Community leaders called on people to stop burning or looting shops and other property in Mabopane, northern Tshwane, on Wednesday. Photo: BMP |
JOHANNESBURG - Photographs that were circulating on social media and published in a daily newspaper that suggest police officers took part in the looting shops in Tshwane townships "were misleading and untrue", the SA Police Service (SAPS) said.
The police said the photographs were published without captions and portrayed the officers as being participants in the looting.
RT #sapsHQ #SAPS condemns FALSE reports on Social Media during recent violent riots. #TshwaneUnrestMEsaps.gov.za/newsroom/selne…
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"The SAPS strongly condemns this type of reporting and the distribution of these images as they were selectively published to tarnish the image of the SAPS and is totally misleading and untrue," the office of acting national commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane said in a statement late Wednesday.
"The members were in no way involved in any act of criminality and were retrieving stolen goods from looters."
The photographs, which show two uniformed officers carrying maize meal bags as they walk away from onlookers, were circulated on social media platforms and published by a daily newspaper.
At least 54 people have since been arrested and charged with public violence and possession of stolen goods after violent protests broke out three days ago in townships in Tshwane.
Roads were blocked, buses torched and shops looted in Atteridgeville, Mamelodi, Ga-Rankuwa and Hammanskraal.
Protests were sparked by the naming of African National Congress MP Thoko Didiza as the party’s mayoral candidate for the metro.
Protesters have warned the ANC they will not vote in the August 3 elections unless popular Mayor Kgosientso ‘Sputla’ Ramokgopa is retained.
The townships were calm on Wednesday, although several foreign-owned shops were reportedly looted overnight.
The violence had spread to Mabopane where local spaza shops were stormed and looted.
Police said Two people shot dead in Mamelodi on Tuesday night, when a mob tried to loot a Pakistani-owned shop in the area.
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They can not bring a Zulu to lead us - Tshwane residents
Pretoria - Residents of Atteridgeville, Tshwane, have lashed out at the ANC's decision to put forward Thoko Didiza as mayoral candidate for the city, saying a Zulu person from KwaZulu-Natal cannot be brought in to lead them.
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| Truck burnt to ashes by angry Tshwane residents |
"The ANC cannot bring a Zulu person to rule Pedi, Tsongas, Shangaans and Vendas," a taxi driver told News24 on Tuesday.
"What does she know about Pretoria? Where was she born in Pretoria? She must go back to KZN."
Large-scale protest erupted in parts of Tshwane on Monday following the ANC's announcement of Didiza as the party’s mayoral candidate.
On Monday night at least 19 buses were set alight and City of Tshwane workers had to be withdrawn from several townships for their safety.
On Tuesday, residents of Tshwane townships returned to the streets to continue protesting. Maunde Street in Atteridgeville has been blockaded with burning tyres and debris. Residents have chased away journalists, saying they don't want media in the area.
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'Zuma's crooks'
The Darspoort tunnel in Pretoria West is also closed due to protest action. Information coming out of Hammanskraal indicated that the N1 has been blocked by protesters.
A police officer in the area says all lanes at Phumulani Toll Plaza North have been closed.
Protesters have also apparently burned cars on the N1 highway.
Another taxi driver told News24 on Tuesday that current Tshwane Mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa was being sidelined because of his criticism of President Jacob Zuma. Protesting residents wanted Ramokgopa to be the mayoral candidate.
"Ramokgopa is not one of Zuma's crooks. He was part of the group that called for Zuma to do the right thing and when he did that, Zuma decided to replace him with one of his own," the driver said.
"Zuma must step down, he must do the right thing."
He brought up Didiza's resignation from Cabinet in 2008, after former president Thabo Mbeki announced his resignation, saying that she was now being brought back.
Ramokgopa distances himself
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He said if Ramakgopa was allowed to stay, he would bring his own people who would also call for Zuma to leave.
The driver said this was similar to how Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was threatened after he was appointed to the position following the short stint of now Co-operative Governance Minister Des van Rooyen as finance minister.
He claimed Van Rooyen was appointed by the controversial Gupta family, who are friends with President Jacob Zuma.
Ramokgopa on Monday distanced himself from the violence.
"I'm distancing myself from any actions of violence. I would never have authorised such actions and it can't be done in my name," he told News24. Ramokgopa is also the ANC's regional chairperson.
"The ANC has pronounced, and as disciplined members of the ANC we must abide by the decisions of the ANC. I had said today in the press conference that I'm fully behind the deployment of comrade Thoko Didiza as a mayoral candidate for the ANC here in Tshwane."
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