Foreigners beat up police officers in Johannesburg

Some suspected Zimbabwean and Mozambican nationals  on Sunday pelted police officers with rocks and other objects after a they raided and seized counterfeit goods in the Johannesburg inner city.

A video that is circulating on social media shows the defiant protestors throwing objects at the police cars.

South African media quoted Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters saying officers from the SA Police Service (SAPS) and Johannesburg metro police department (JMPD) were confiscating counterfeit goods at the Madiba Building on the corner of Jeppe and Von Wielligh streets when they were attacked.

Unrest in Hillbrow JHB yesterday after police confiscated counterfeit goods. @AsktheChiefJMPD @MichaelSun168 @SAPoliceService @GP_CommSafety #CrimeWatch pic.twitter.com/hlVmuTyt0l

— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) June 10, 2019

Peters said police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd that grew "rapidly" in number.

"While no law enforcement members sustained injuries, an unconfirmed number of police vehicles were damaged and barriers set alight.

Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela condemned the incident saying, "We cannot allow such lawlessness to go unpunished."

Businessman Gayton Mckenzie said, "This is totally disrespectful , this is undermining South Africa, I cannot imagine South Africans fighting the Zimbabwe or Mozambique police."