The clash between train commuters and residents last night has left two people dead and five shacks burnt in Soshanguve, near Kopanong station.
This comes after the residents of the informal settlements known as “Marry Me” in Soshanguve led a service delivery protest to demand electricity, water, sanitation and RDP houses.
Constable Zanele Mtsweni, of Soshanguve SAPS Corporate Communications, said upon arrival at the scene last night at around 20:30, police found four males lying near the railway line between Marry Me and Block VV. The men are aged between 35 and 40 and had sustained visible ahead and face injuries. Among the four, one was confirmed dead and the other three was rushed to hospital. Of of the men succumbed to his injuries and died this morning.
The motive for the injured and the diseased remains unknown and the area continues to be monitored by the public order police.
It is alleged that the informal settlement dwellers stopped train commuters from going to work by blocking the railway with burning tyres which the train commuters responded to by burning their shacks with the same burning tyres.
Community members have expressed their concern about the weekly protests by the informal settlements, saying it is putting their jobs at risk and also dangerous as the protesters throw stones at moving cars.
Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Mr Solly Msimanga responded to a concerned community member saying the matter of road blockages is being attended to but some of the demands by the residents can only be dealt with through intervention of the provincial government.
The protest action has seen the suspension of Metrorail trains from Mabopane and Soshanguve in Kopanong train station and nearby roads closed.
