By Gordon Bell
Township residents barricaded roads in Soweto on Wednesday, the latest in a series of protests over living conditions that have hit the country less than 100 days before the World Cup.
Police said about 1000 people demanding housing demonstrated in the township near Johannesburg, blocking roads with large rocks close to the venue for the opening and final game of the tournament.
"Police went to the scene and they talked to the crowd and they dispersed," police spokeswoman Katlego Mogale said. "The police are keeping an eye on the situation."
Poor shantytown residents have burnt tyres and buildings and police have responded with rubber bullets and water cannons in protests over the past year, in scenes reminiscent of the apartheid era.
Protests in Soweto during apartheid made it a symbol of resistance to white minority rule.
A policeman was shot last week and scores of people arrested when protests turned violent in several Johannesburg townships.
The protests have spread. This week, they reached Pretoria where demonstrators demanding better housing, schools, roads and sewage systems threatened to disrupt the World Cup.
Nthamaga Kgafela, a researcher at the independent South African Institute for Race Relations, said the protests had escalated since the election last year of President Jacob Zuma, whose pro-poor image had raised hopes of change.
"I think that is primarily because people felt there was someone there to listen," she said.
Analysts said the protests could put heavy pressure on the ruling African National Congress to meet demands ahead of local council elections due in 2011 that may be seen as a barometer of support for Zuma.
"There is no specific political force behind these protests, it is just people who are completely fed-up with their living conditions," consultancy Executive Research Associates political analyst Nel Marais said.
"If these protests are not brought under control the 2011 elections could become a huge nightmare, from a security point of view and a political point of view."
Tens of thousands of people protested in the run-up to the previous council elections in 2006, won overwhelming by the ANC. - Reuters