Three people were shot with rubber bullets during a protest over housing in Scottsdene in Cape Town, on Monday, a community leader said.
"Three protesters were shot and hospitalised," said Dennis Taaibosch of the Oostenberg Social Development Forum.
"Scottsdene is burning with tyres and petrol bombs," he said, captioning pictures he had sent of private security guards lined up and a burning barricade in between new flats.
He said that this was after the Western Cape High Court confirmed an interim eviction order to a final order relating to the alleged attempted occupation by about 500 people of newly completed homes in the area.
Taaibosch said the court had not applied the constitutional protection found in the Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act, so the judgment would be studied, and they would consider appealing it.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut confirmed that police had been deployed to Scottsdene for a housing-related protest on Monday.
However, there was no record of injuries or arrests by mid-Monday afternoon.
"Our members will remain deployed in the area until we are satisfied that [order] has been restored," said Traut.
Dennis Taaibosch outside the Western Cape High Court. (Jenni Evans, News24)On Friday Western Cape MEC for human settlements Bonginkosi Madikizela listened in the street outside the court as angry residents listed grievances against the housing allocation processes.
The Scottsdene case was being heard on the same day as an application by Patricia De Lille regarding her removal from the DA and subsequent removal as mayor of Cape Town.
Madikizela is also the provincial leader of the opposition party and is facing a growing list of grievances over housing and land in the province.
The Scottsdene case is related to the alleged occupation of flats built by a company called Calgro M3, in Scottsdene, Kraaifontein in March. This was after residents became impatient about "empty promises" regarding housing.
They also claimed the land was meant for low-cost housing and was sold to a private developer without consultation.
Residents said they were also fed up with crime and gangsterism in Scottsdene and wanted better policing, in addition to housing.