AlgoaFM News
The Tactical Response Team was out in full force in Korsten in Gqeberha on Thursday where violence broke out in Durban road a day earlier.
Eight minibus taxis were set alight and two other vehicles were damaged after an accident in Durban Road turned violent.
Police minister Bheki Cele and his Deputy hastened to Nelson Mandela Bay to assess the situation and were accompanied by journalists and a number of heavily armed police members.
Officers also swooped on a store in Durban Road after business owners were seen brandishing firearms during Wednesday's violence which is believed to have been sparked by a road accident involving a taxi and a car driven by a local businessman.
Addressing the media in Korsten, Minister Cele said the Police Ministry had already held an emergency meeting with the leadership of the taxi industry, local business, and the Somali shop owners in an attempt to quell the situation.
He promised, however, that action would be taken against those who had transgressed the law during Wednesday's chaos.
"There were guns and firearms brandished around here, some of them fired. Police will have to find all people that committed crime, arson and destruction," he said.
Minister Cele added that everyone should be familiar with the Firearm Act clearly stating that private citizens are not allowed to move around displaying their firearms publicly.
However, a local business owner whose store was raided by the tactical response team took exception to this police conduct.
Samat Ahmed also accused the police of showing favouritism towards the taxi drivers at the expense of the shop owners, many of them Somalis.
He did not dispute the fact that he and other business owners had firearms, but he said they were legal weapons.
Ahmed said the police raid was illegal and threatened to take the matter all the way to the High Court.
The situation in Korsten remained tense during the afternoon while the area is being monitored by police.
