South African police demolish shacks in Cape Town, clash with residents

Police demolish shacks in Cape Town, clashes erupt

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South African police called in to clear shacks from a Cape Town nature reserve have clashed with slum dwellers.

Police spokeswoman Tanya Lesch says residents threw rocks and set fires, and police fired live ammunition, water cannon and rubber bullets Tuesday. Lesch says 15 police officers and three civilians were injured.

The clashes beneath upscale Hout Bay’s Sentinel Mountain left a corner of one of Cape Town’s most scenic areas littered with rocks and debris.

City spokeswoman Kylie Hatton says 29 unoccupied shacks were cleared from a part of the reserve.

She says the city wants to clear 54 other shacks that are home to as many as 200 people, but needs a court order to destroy occupied shacks.