A police van was overturned and pelted with stones and two police officers were injured in a protest that turned ugly in Lady Grey on Wednesday.
Twenty people were arrested and charged with public violence and damage to property on Wednesday night.
Residents have been protesting since Tuesday, demanding that co-operative governance & traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa address their grievances.
These include calls to fire Senqu municipal manager Mxolisi Yawa, who was sentenced to a five-year suspended term for fraud in 2018.
He is appealing the sentence.
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Moitheri Bojabotseha said: “On Wednesday, things became violent and a state vehicle and an on-duty police officer’s house were damaged.
“The 20 appeared at the Lady Grey magistrate’s court on Thursday, where 16 of them were granted R500 bail.
“The other four were denied bail because they have pending housebreaking cases.”
Ten of the 20 will be back in court on Thursday March 14, while the other 10 will appear on March 28.
They have claimed they were assaulted by the police.
Bojabotseha denied this allegation.
He said the 20 had been charged with public violence and damage to property.
“Two police officers were hit by rocks on Wednesday and were taken to hospital for treatment,” he said.
“A case of assaulting police officers has been opened.”
The residents are also calling for the immediate removal of mayor Nomvuyo Mposelwa and speaker Isaac Mosisidi, saying they had failed in their duties.
Other demands include: A forensic investigation into certain tenders;
That the municipality be placed under administration;
Improved service delivery;
Eradication of the bucket toilet system; and
Formalisation of informal settlements. On Thursday, ANC provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi led an ANC delegation that visited Barkly East and Lady Grey to respond to the residents’ grievances.
Lady Grey resident Elton Kon said the police vehicle was vandalised after police gave up trying to control the crowd and ran away.
“More than five people were injured when the police started shooting rubber bullets and live rounds,” Kon said.
“There are allegations the arrested people were assaulted.
“When the police started arresting these people, houses were vandalised and children were beaten up by the police.”
Bojabotseha denied this, saying police had used teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
Barkly East community leader Luthando Ndakisa said the ANC provincial leaders had met some of their demands, giving them hope regarding the removal of Mosisidi and another councillor in Lady Grey.
“The meeting, which took until 2pm, got stuck after they declined to remove mayor Mposelwa,” he said.
“We gave them 24 hours to come back to us.
“Their 24 hours expires on Friday at 1pm.”
Attempts to get comment from Ngcukayitobi were unsuccessful...