TWO people died during a protest for basic services in Diepkloof, Soweto, this morning, while a truck driver and two assistants were beaten by the residents who also looted their vehicles.
One of the deceased, a recycler, is believed to have been hit by a truck that also plunged into a transformer, leaving the area without electricity.
It is not yet known what the second person died from, but the two bodies were at the gate of the Diepkloof hostel this morning.
Gauteng police spokesperson Col Mavela Masondo confirmed the two deaths.
He said one person was hit by a truck carrying tinned fish, which got lost and ended up at the hostel, while the second person was hit by a motorist who was trying to avoid the protest.
Law enforcement officers were deployed to the scene to monitor the situation and restore order after residents took to the N12 to complain about service delivery.
A truck driver, who found himself caught in the protest, told of how residents – who also looted his truck and took their lunch – beat his two colleagues.
Ronald Mabulana, 41, said the incident occurred about 4.45am on the N12 interchange when a group of people appeared from the bushes, went towards him and started hitting the truck with objects.
“It was really scary and I was scared for my life, so I got off the truck and ran for my life because when incidents like these happen, sometimes they kill drivers. My two other colleagues who were left in the car were beaten up, everything was taken from us; our phones, our car keys, including our lunch.”
Mabulana says it looks like a planned attack by Diepkloof hostel dwellers who were protesting for lack of services, a protest which he said turned rogue.
Another truck driver who went through the area also found himself in the same situation as Mabulana’s colleague, as he was also beaten up and his tinned fish stock taken.
“We did receive earlier a report that a truck was looted and the driver was allegedly assaulted,” said Johannesburg metro police department spokesperson Xolani Fihla.
