Protestors set cars alight in South African township (Roundup)

Jul 12, 2009, 18:37 GMT

Johannesburg - Hundreds of angry protestors in the impoverished South African township community of Diepsloot went on the rampage on Sunday, according to local media.

The mob set fire to several vehicles, including a police van and two cars belonging to a television crews from the public broadcaster. They also stoned passing cars along a main road beside the township, north of Johannesburg.

Police brought the situation under control and urged motorists to avoid roads near the township.

An earlier announcement by local authorities that several hundred informal homes or shacks would be demolished, according to reports.

Diepsloot residents and police clashed during a similar protest last week that saw residents blockade streets with burning tyres and rocks.

Meanwhile, in unrelated violent protests in another township over the weekend, angry residents had by Sunday burned down a library, a hostel and a house and clashed with police.

Residents in Mashishing, near the town of Lydenburg in northern Mpumalanga Province, took to the streets early Friday to demand the dismissal of allegedly corrupt local officials and the delivery of basic services to the area.

Around 3,000 protestors used burning tyres to block roads and stoned police car on Friday. A police officer was injured in clashes in which police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

Local media reported that several more people were arrested after protests flared Sunday again, bringing to over 60 the number of protestors taken into police custody since Friday.