When Richards Bay cops were notified of an ongoing protest by construction workers at Richards Bay harbour, north of KZN they thought they would be able to monitor it throughout perfectly.
But little did they know that within an hour of their arrival, they would be overpowered by the protesters and be forced to run for their lives.
This came after the protesters who were protesting in bulldozers began showing signs of violence.
A cop who asked not to be named told Daily Sun that their two vehicles were allegedly damaged by these protesters.
“They begun causing chaos with their bulldozers, we tried giving them a warning that they needed to keep their protest peaceful but they continued. When we fired rubber bullets they retaliated by driving their bulldozers straight in our direction,” said the cop.
He said when they realized that the protesters meant business they ran in different directions of the road to save their lives.
“The protesters then decided to damage our vehicles by front part of their bulldozers. They overturned both our vehicles and there is nothing we could have done,” said the cop.
According to one the protesters, they were hired by the Richards Bay harbour to render construction work.
“There has been disagreement over certain issues in the past few weeks. Some of us were fired in the process and that it why we got angry and protested,” he said.
KZN police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel, Thulani Zwane confirmed the protest at the Richards Bay Harbour yesterday (Tuesday) where workers were complaining about work related issues.
“Police attended to the scene. Two of their vehicles were overturned using bulldozers by the protesters.
There are some protesters who were arrested and will be charged with public violence,” said Zwane.
