About 100 members of South Africa's Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee went to protest outside Johannesburg Mayor's home yesterday. The protest was against evictions and electricity & water cut-offs to the poor. The Mayor happened to be in Hawaai! His bodyguard came out on the roof and fired live bullets at the protestors. (see the photo attached).

1 protestor was injured. Some of the protestors are pensioners whose services have been cut. The protestors came back and cut off the Mayor's water but the police then arrested everyone. This was at 2pm yesterday, Saturday 6th April. The SECC is still in jail. The police are deliberately delaying things. They have not processed all the charges yet, saying they have run out of stationery. This means that people can't yet get bailed out.

Police have now told the incarcerated activists that they must go to an ID parade - they want to charge the ringleaders with malicious damage to property and public violence. It might be an attempt to jail the SECC leaders and defuse the campaign.

Included among the arrested is a five-year old child and the wounded protestor. At the police station, an Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) member, who had not even been part of the demonstration, was also arrested. She was pointed out by Vincent Vena, the self-declared 'chairperson of the ANC Johannesburg branch' as one of the demonstrators and ought then to be detained as well. The station commander personally responded to the ANC's instruction.

The Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) will meet this afternoon with a lawyer and try to expedite things. But international protests are needed. Don't forget that the Minister of Public Enterprises, Jeff Radebe, last December called these poor pensioners "gangs of criminals" that would be rooted out. Rooted out for being victims of capitalism! Fax and phone the SA embassy in London and protest! You can contact John Apollis, chair of the APF on +27 82 940-4473.