Chaos erupted in the Elim area on Wednesday morning when community members barricaded roads and burnt tyres in protest against what they deemed inefficiency on the part of the police.
Residents' anger erupted, leaving thousands of commuters in the area frustrated and without transport. Many workers did not report for work. The situation also prevented some pupils from going to school, because no transport was available. Some of them were forced to walk many kilometres to and from school. Many schools in the area opted rather to close and send the children back home.
Shops in the area were closed for most of the morning, as well as several roads in the Elim area.
The unrest followed the release of two alleged rape suspects by the police, after the two had been beaten by the community. Members of the community were also arrested during the incident for their retaliatory actions.
Police spokesperson Lt-Col Moatshe Ngoepe said the area was calm at the time of our going to press.
The community members said that they had had enough of individuals who terrorised women and got away with crimes. Residents appealed to the SAPS to maintain a policy of zero tolerance towards all crime. They said a lot of crimes had occurred in the area and in most cases the suspects were known by the community.
A man who did not want to be named said that they wanted the police to bring the suspects to the community, so that they could tell them why they had done such evil deeds.