Cape Town – A violent protest in Cape Town’s CBD, which saw stalls and shops looted, is shocking and dismaying, Premier Helen Zille’s office said on Wednesday.

Zille’s spokesperson Zak Mbele told eNCA that ANC councillor Loyiso Nkhola was to blame for the violence.

Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk told News24 that about 3 500 people were toy-toying and singing outside the Western Cape Legislature earlier on Wednesday afternoon.

He said police were on the scene and standing guard outside the legislature.

No shots have been fired. Shots heard earlier in the CBD were from a stun gun.

No arrests have been made and no injuries reported, Van Wyk said. However, News24 reporter Nielen de Klerk said a shopkeeper was left injured after protesters attacked him while another person on the scene saw a stallholder being attacked by protesters with a hammer.

Van Wyk said he could not confirm the number of shops or stall that have been looted, but said anyone who had been looted should open a case at the police station.

He said staff at the legislature were not being escorted out, but were free to leave when and if they wanted to.

Mbele said the provincial government was looking at two courses of action, the one being a charge of incitement to commit a crime against Nkhola and the other being a court ruling which held that organisers of public demonstrations can be held liable for the resulting violence.
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