VIOLENT SCENES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20526, 9 April 1941, Page 12

VIOLENT SCENES

DAMAGE TO PREMISES JOHANNESBURG RIOTS .iOHANXESBURG, Kelt. 14. A serious riot broke out between soldiers and civilians round the City .Hall. Johannesburg,'• on a recent Friday night, and the police laid the greatest difiiculty in restoring order. They made baton charges and used tear gas, but it was after I a.m. lielore the streets were cleared. The disturbance was followed the next night by another riot of even graver proportions. • This second outbreak was marked by many injuries, some serious: extensive damage to the premises of the newspaper Die Vaderland; some damage in the building occupied by the newspaper Die Transvaler; the burning of a police van; baton charges by the police; and the breaking of shot) windows. Soldiers and Civilians As a result of the two riots 07 soldiers were admitted to hospital ami 190 were treated and sent home. Dive civilians were admitted and liO were • treated for minor injuries. Three policemen were treated at the hospital and others at the police barracks. Exactly how the Friday riot began

is not clear. There was a. large gathering in Ihe City Hall at a “cultural concert,” which was addressed by Dr. van Itonsburg, leader of the political organisation, O sse wa - Bra nd wag. When this gathering was leaving at II pan. there was a large crowd outside, surging about, but no positive disorder. Home minutes later scuffles occurred in l.ovcday street, and then came a load crash of glass. This apparently attracted the crowd, which now got out of order. The police drew their truncheons, and then it was seen that men in the ernwd had armed themselves with sticks and planks.

Great Struggling Mass

A soldier was seen lying near the pavement, and next to him a crowbill' and a wicker chair. Some people in the crowd said that lie had fallen from a balcony, and others that he had been felled with the crowbar.

Thereafter nearly Ihe whole length of l.ovcday street seemed one mass of furious people, fighting and struggling in a general melee. A great many of them had merely been untight in the melee and were trying te get out of it.

The police made a clearing in the street, which by this time was filled with challenging shouts and songs. Then came a shower of missiles in Lite direction of the police. A police van driven slowly across the street was attacked. The van was reversed,

and tear gas released. The gas had only a temporary effect, as there was no breeze to carry it.

'l'lie police had shown great restraint up to this point. They were then ordered to charge with batons down l.ovcday street, and they scattered the crowd, Several soldiers were hurt in this clearance. Outbreak Next Night In the meantime a large crowd had gathered again in President street, and there a clash between soldiers and police occurred. Eventually tempers on both sides were calmed. The soldiers were removed by the authorities in troop carriers. According to all reports. Saturday’s riot originated in the feeling engendered among soldiers in the riot on Friday. The attack on the premises of Die Vaderland on Saturday night was due, on the part of many, to a misapprehension. Soldiers were told that the building was the headquarters of the Ossetva-Brand wag, which it is not. Extensive damage was done to Die Vaderland’s offices and composing room. All the windows facing the* street were smashed* office furniture, was wrecked, linotype machines damaged, and type scattered about. The damage done at Voortrekker | Building, occupied in part by Die Transvaler, was confined to the smashing of windows in three shops, and in offices.

Soldiers looking for the headquarters of the Ossewa-Brandwag in

the latter building attempted to gain an entry by the fire escapes. They were repulsed by the occupants of the building, who used a fire hose. Another hose was also played from tiiis building on to the street to keep the crowd back.

A compact group of men, some of whom proclaimed themselves to be members of the Ossewa-Brandwag, stood behind the police outside the Voortrekker Building, and by jeers and cries incited the crowd. Their position gave them the appearance of being protected by the police, which infuriated the crowd. A third focus of the riot was in von Brandis Square. The crowd here got completely out of hand, and in the melee a police van was capsized, and then set alight by igniting the petrol. The police charged with batons. Armoured Cars If the military authorities had not intervened with great skill and judgment the riot would have become even more formidable. It was the military who eventually restored order. Officers called from their homes and places of amusement

moved in the crowd and exhorted soldiers to leave.

Armed pickets were then sent out to withdraw all soldiers from the streets, and armoured cars were brought from Sondenvater. The streets were not finally cleared until 4 a.m., after they had been patrolled by soldiers with fixed bayonets.