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<P>The latest from Alexandra, Johannesburg, a key site of the ANC's '50s
Defiance Campaign.</P>
<P><STRONG>Man killed in Alexandra riots </STRONG></P>
<P>Angry pupils clash with police, harass journalists, petrol-bomb media cars
</P>
<P>- Daisy Jones (BusinessDay)</P>
<P>VIOLENCE erupted in Alexandra yesterday after a young man, believed to be a
school pupil, was killed and several more were injured, allegedly by police who
repeatedly opened fire on a vengeful mob of youngsters. Police spokesman Insp
Willem de Villiers said nine people were admitted to Alexandra clinic with
gunshot wounds. The sister on duty at Alexandra clinic said last night that one
patient had been admitted to hospital and she was in a critical condition.
Others had been discharged during the day. De Villiers confirmed that the
youngster, who was in his early 20s, died after Alexandra police opened fire
with their 9mm pistols on a crowd of about 500 "riotous" pupils and
residents. De Villiers said the mob, which contained armed men, surrounded two
police cars. A policewoman was hit in the face with a brick during the
confrontation. He said it was not clear if the victim was a pupil. He might have
been killed in a crossfire between police and pupils. The pupils, mainly from
Realogile High School, were burning down the home of a businessman they believed
killed one of their Congress of SA Students (Cosas) leaders on Monday. Eight
public order policing unit vehicles were called in soon after the youth was
killed yesterday. Police vehicles were shot at, petrol-bombed and stoned. A
pupil, who asked not to be named, said the children ran to Roosevelt Street, a
main thoroughfare in Alexandra, because it was safer than the narrow streets.
"The police were chasing them. They were shooting at any school uniform
they came across." She said the police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and
live ammunition. Johnny "Slovo" Lekganyane, a Cosas spokesman, said a
local police car drove into the grounds of Realogile High and opened fire on
teachers and pupils. One teacher was shot with a rubber bullet while he was
teaching a class, Lekganyane said. By lunch time pupils had set up burning
barricades in Roosevelt Street and a stone barricade outside the school.
Throughout the morning youths stoned vehicles and houses. After an empty media
car was petrol-bombed, public order police in Nyalas moved in, firing rounds of
rubber bullets at the windows and balconies of residential buildings near the
corner of 15th and Roosevelt streets. During the afternoon a second media car
was petrol-bombed, a news photographer was mugged, a journalist was assaulted,
and a third media car was damaged. A group of about 50 pupils marched on the
Alexandra police station in the mid-afternoon, threatening to burn it down and
demanded the release of their comrades who were arrested earlier in the day.
Education Minister Kader Asmal, Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete,
Gauteng education MEC Ignatius Jacobs and safety and liaison MEC Nomvula
Mokonyane will visit Alexandra this morning. </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>