Mpumalanga police had to use rubber bullets, stun grenades and teargas to stop members of the EFF blocking the N4 highway after their leader, Julius Malema, was handed a five-year jail sentence on Thursday for discharging a firearm in public.
The EFF supporters had been watching the court proceedings, in KuGompu City, on a large screen mounted outside the Mpumalanga High Court.
After the sentence was announced, Mpumalanga party chairperson Collen Sedibe addressed the gathering.
However, the crowd was not happy. “It can’t happen, something must burn here,” one person shouted.
The supporters then moved to the N4, nearby, and blocked it.
Police quickly responded and asked them to move. However, the crowd refused and officers attempted to break up the gathering with stun grenades and teargas.
Some EFF members retaliated by throwing stones at the police, who then fired rubbers bullets.
Injured EFF members were rushed to a nearby clinic.
The crowd eventually returned to the court screen to watch Malema make an address to the cameras and his supporters in KuGompu City.
Sowetan
Mandla Khoza
www.timeslive.co.za
