The South African Police Service in Tshitale outside Makhado arrested twelve suspects aged between 20 and 30 for public violence, arson and malicious damage to property.
This arrest follows the violent protest action which erupted at ga-Muila village in the early hours of Saturday, 2 February 2019.
It is alleged that a group of community members went on the rampage and burned down the house of the local Chief at Kwaaidraai including the houses of two headmen.
Protesters proceeded to torch six motor vehicles. The properties of the local mine were also not spared as they were also damaged. The damage caused is estimated at over R3 million. Members of the Public Order Police have since stabilized the situation.
The motive behind this incident is not clear at this stage but the ongoing police investigations will tell.
The arrested suspects will appear before the local magistrates’ court soon and more arrests are expected.
The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba has strongly condemned this incident and has warned all the persons not to take the law into their own hands. “All the arrested suspects will be processed like any other suspect and no amount of pressure will lead to their release prematurely,” concluded General Ledwaba.