Hostile reception for Tshwane mayor in Gomorrah
Tshwane mayor Stevens Mokgalapa received a hostile reception from residents of the Gomorrah informal settlement, west of Pretoria, on Friday morning.
Residents took to the streets on Thursday over service delivery issues in the area, petrol bombing and vandalising the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk Wesmoot.
Mokgalapa agreed to meet residents on Friday to listen to their grievances but was met with hostility.
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Protesters barricaded roads in the area to prevent the mayor from addressing residents.
Mokgalapa says he had spoken to community leaders before heading to the scene.
"We spoke with their leaders there, we were allowed entry to go into the local ground where they had community meetings.
"I addressed the community in the Nyala and after that when the situation turned sour because they wanted me to give them guarantee of release of the protesters, which I could not give and then I was escorted out by both the SAPS and metro police."
At least 19 people have been arrested on charges of public violence, with police continuing to monitor the situation.