Two dead during demonstrations in South Africa over high energy cost

• Residents of Thembisa township, northeast of Johannesburg’s financial district, blocked highways with burning tyres.
• They torched a municipal facility in protest at the exorbitant cost of essential services.
• South Africa is frequently the site of demonstrations over substandard services.

Two people were shot and killed by police amid protests over the cost of energy in a South Africa township on Monday, police officials said.

The residents of Thembisa township, northeast of Johannesburg’s financial district, blocked highways with burning tyres and torched a municipal facility in protest at the exorbitant cost of essential services.

Kelebogile Thepa, a local municipal police spokeswoman, stated that “two fatal injuries” were associated with “the protest action that occurred this morning in the early hours.”

“It’s alleged they have been shot,” she told AFP.

Earlier, a spokeswoman for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate told AFP that the organisation had documented a shooting “by a member of the police”.

Investigations are being conducted.

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South Africa, which has some of the highest unemployment and crime rates in the world, is frequently the site of demonstrations over substandard services.

Former president Thabo Mbeki predicted that the country could experience an insurrection comparable to the Arab Spring due to building discontent, which sparked the most recent round of protests.

Mbeki accused Cyril Ramaphosa of not delivering on his commitments to tackle poverty, inequality, and unemployment, which is above 34.5% and nearly 64% among youth.

Last year, South Africa saw the worst violence since the end of apartheid. Rioting and looting killed almost 350 people.

Ten days of riots followed Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment for ignoring fraud investigators.

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