Cape Town - Police maintained a visible presence in Cape Town’s CBD on Friday after a protest which saw officers apparently use crowd control weapons, including stun grenades, on a group of pupils from Philippi High School.
Informal traders operating outside the Western Cape Education Department’s office at the Grand Central building on Darling Street, said they saw about 200 pupils running towards them just before 11am with police in pursuit.
The children stopped outside the department’s offices demanding to speak to an official. They were reportedly unhappy about having to be taught in shipping containers for the past year instead of in proper classrooms.
Informal trader Andile Oliphant: “The police argued with them for a long time, telling them with a loudspeaker to leave. But the kids just sat down on the ground. That’s when I heard the bang.”
Oliphant said his co-worker, who suffered from heart problems, fainted at the sound of what he believed was stun grenades.
“The sound made me lose control. I had to help my sister who fainted,” he said.
Some informal traders said police fired rubber bullets at the pupils and threw smoke grenades into the crowd.
The children scattered in all directions. It’s not clear if any pupils were injured but Oliphant said he saw at least two children bleeding.
ANA