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South African police fire on protest

At least 20 youths treated for wounds from rubber pellets


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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- South African police fired rubber pellets at township youths who blocked a highway and burned tires Monday in a rare protest over poverty and other grievances.

Police fired on around 4,500 youths, mostly aged 12 to 18, who blocked traffic on the main N3 highway linking Durban and Johannesburg near the town of Harrismith, Superintendent Annalie Wrensch told Reuters by telephone.

She said 20 youths were treated in hospital for wounds from the pellets, which are fired from shotguns and used by South African police to quell riots.

"The police had to use force," Wrensch said. "Eventually there were 20 of them that went to hospital."

Police arrested 38 youths who will appear in court later Monday to face charges of public violence at a hearing hastily convened because the defendants were minors, she said.

Police forced the crowd off the highway, but youths then burned tires around the Intabazwe township before the situation calmed down.

The crowd, including children who abandoned lessons in local schools, were protesting over poverty, the state of roads and other public services as well as grievances against the mayor and members of the local council, she added.

"Some of their concerns are legit [legitimate], but something like poverty the council can't solve," Wrensch said.

Ten years after the end of apartheid, many of South Africa's black majority still live in poor townships with little prospect of breaking out of a cycle of poverty.

Thousands of residents of a slum settlement near the main business center in Johannesburg rioted for three days in July over reports that some of them were to be relocated, prompting clashes with police reminiscent of apartheid violence.

Politicians said at the time that some community leaders had spread false rumors of forced evictions for political ends.



Copyright 2004 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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