Khutsong near Carletonville on the West Rand was calm amid a strong police presence on Thursday morning.

This, after 14 more people were taken into custody, bringing to 71 the number of arrests on Wednesday for public violence, said Senior Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht.

The arrests followed the burning of a house belonging to a municipal councillor, a church and the community hall.

On Wednesday, police fired rubber bullets at protesters who stoned and threw bottles at their armoured vehicles.

A police officer's face was badly burnt in a petrol-bomb attack, another was hurt by a stone and three more sustained other injuries.

Five houses were torched.

"One was that of an South African National Defence Force member, the others belonged to councillors," Martins-Engelbrecht said.

The residents have been demonstrating since November against the proposed incorporation of Merafong municipality - of which Khutsong forms part - into the North West instead of Gauteng, which it believes is wealthier and better able to provide services.

Unrest broke out on Wednesday after it was announced to a crowd at Khutsong stadium that the SA Communist Party intended going to the Constitutional Court over the National Council of Provinces' approval of a bill allowing the redemarcation of municipalities - including Merafong.

Other contentious areas among the 17 cross-border municipalities affected by the legislation are Matatiele (KwaZulu-Natal to Eastern Cape), Bushbuckridge (Mpumalanga and Limpopo), and Khalagadi (Northwest to Northern Cape).

The legislation has yet to be signed into law by President Thabo Mbeki.

The African National Congress has condemned protesters "senseless burning of public buildings and private property".

"Such behaviour threatens to obscure the real issues faced by the people of Merafong," said spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama. - Sapa

Published on the Web by IOL on 2005-12-15 01:06:01