Twenty four spaza shops were looted in Villiersdorp on Sunday night.
Residents of Protea Heights and Berg en Dal had a sleepless night with the sound of gun shots reverberating in their ears.
Brigadier Donovan Heilbron, cluster commander of the Overberg, sai there was an issue between two spaza shop owners with regards to who can trade in the area. Community members apparently got involved in the altercation.
Heilbron said the community misused the opportunity to loot. “Five people were arrested.” The brigadier said the looting started at 19:45 on Sunday evening and the community settled down after 04:00 on Monday morning. Public Order Police (Pops) was called in to assist.
“Everything is now peaceful and most of these types of incident are abused by opportunists,” Heilbron concluded.