Cops come under attack for a second day in PE's northern areas

Although no protests were planned for Port Elizabeth’s northern areas on Tuesday‚ violence erupted in Helevale late in the morning.

There were reports of protesters burning tyres and stoning cars in Helenvale’s Stanford Road‚ which police are reported to have closed to traffic.

This follows an almost complete standstill in the area on Monday as taxis in the city joined the day-long action after 33 schools were shut down due to a number of problems‚ the main one being a shortage of teachers.

The South African Police Service‚ who reportedly were attacked with live ammunition on Monday‚ issued a statement that night: “Community members are reminded that although they have the democratic right to protest‚ they must do so within the boundaries of the law and respect the rights of non-participating public members.

“Disregard for the law will not be allowed and those who fail to adhere to this will be arrested‚ charged and brought before a court.”

This appeared to have gone unheeded on Tueday ?as @HeraldPE tweeted: “Rocks are falling down like hail stones on the police Nyala that is transporting the media”.

The protestors‚ from another tweet‚ appeared to be playing cat-and-mouse with police: “Youngsters stoning are dispersing into inner streets of Helenvale as the police Nyalas drives around #northernAreasProtest”.

Public order police‚ tactical response teams and local police members deployed to bring the situation under control on Monday had to used a water cannon‚ stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters‚ the police said.

“The situation is under control and the SAPS will continue to monitor and maintain high visibility in the area including air support to all the affected areas‚” the police said on Monday night.

The protests were not expected to continue on Tuesday while a solution to the education impasse could be found.