Daily Sun (January 14 2014) - IT STARTED as a service delivery protest but then it turned violent. It is not known if cops fired live ammunition or rubber bullets. BUT AT LEAST THREE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED. And an unknown number of people have been injured.

One of the dead is a photographer from a Pretoria newspaper. 

Johannes Rahube, the father of Hosia Rahube (32), who was shot and killed at the scene, asked the most important question.

"How can the police act like this?" he wanted to know.

The protest started on Sunday morning when residents of Mothutlung, near Brits, marched to the house of their councillor, Solly Davids, demanding to know why they had been without running water for more than a month.

But Davids did not speak to them. Instead the police were called and they dispersed the people with teargas.

"This made us angry and we started protesting and burning tyres," said one of the residents, Tsona Kwene.

Word spread about the protest in Mothutlung and residents from neighbouring Mmakau and Damonsville, who have also been affected by the lack of water, joined the protest.

Yesterday morning, residents barricaded roads with rocks, burning tyres and street signs, forcing people either to join the protest or go home.

Police were again called to the area.

An incident that allegedly sparked the violence was when protesters started grabbing mangoes from street vendors.

"We heard cops saying they were going to shoot the people," said Tsona.

"Then they cocked their guns and started shooting at us. I was shocked because they used live rounds and not rubber bullets. I saw people dying in front of me."

She claimed that four people were taken to Brits Hospital.

She said all they wanted was for the councillor to tell them why they were being denied their basic rights.

North West police spokesman, Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone could only confirm that three people had been killed. He said details of the shooting were still not clear.

) Helen Zille of the DA has condemned the killing of protesters.She said the DA will ask the Independent Police Investigative Directorate for an urgent investigation and for the South African Human Rights Commission to investigate the failure to ensure the water supply to the area.

) By late last night the situation was extremely tense. The main road from Mmakau to Mothutlung was barricaded by angry residents.

Economic Freedom Fighters lawyer Andries Nkome told Daily Sun they were going to represent families of the three community members who were killed by police.

"We are going to help them take legal action against the police," he said.

See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....

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