President Joseph Kabila
JOHANNESBURG: Police in South Africa’s capital Pretoria have fired rubber bullets to disperse about 400 Congolese protesters who had gathered outside their embassy to demand that President Joseph Kabila steps down.
“The police was forced to fire at the protesters after they started throwing stones at the embassy,” provincial police spokesman Kay Makhubela told Anadolu Agency Tuesday.
He said a protester had also grabbed a firearm from a police officer. “We have arrested four protesters who will be appearing in court for malicious damage to property and theft of a firearm,” he said.
Congolese community leader Olivier Kalala said they had gathered at the embassy to show solidarity with other Congolese nationals around the world who are also protesting.
“Kabila is no longer our president; his term expired on Dec. 19 but he has refused to relinquish power,” he said.
Opposition parties and civil society groups accuse Kabila of trying to cling on to power after his second term in office expired on Monday without him organizing elections.
However, the country’s electoral commission has said that more time was needed to register voters and find funding for the process.
Meanwhile, in Cape Town, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas Monday to disperse more than 300 Congolese protesters.
Kanyiki Ngooyi a Congolese community leader in Cape Town told Anadolu Agency via telephone that many of his colleagues were injured during the incident.
