On Wednesday more than 500 KZN artists embarked on a march blocking a major highway, themed #OperationVula and #VulaPresident. They are demanding President Cyril Ramaphosa to open live events.

Dladla Mshunqisi who was at the scene told Daily Sun that they were not violent, but police attacked them.

“We were not fighting with them and we were not resisting but police attacked us. We were sprayed with tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at us. We started running for our lives. I cannot remember all the details because at some point I fell on the ground and fainted. Somebody must have poured water on me because when I gained my consciousness, I was wet,” explained Mshunqisi adding that he could have easily died in the process.A source close to the situation said that a handful of artists were injured and some of them were arrested.

“At this stage we don’t know how bad the injuries are and some of them are in police detention with those injuries. At this point in time they are not even getting medical attention inside prison,” said the source.

President of CCIFSA, Joy Mbewana told Daily Sun that as the organization they are very angry at the police.“Our members were not fighting; they were not a threat to anyone, and they were not even armed but they were attacked.

We also know that our members are law-abiding citizens. As a result, we would like to see justice being served,” said Joy.

On Wednesday night the 35 artists were still behind bars.

“At this point in time we have managed to raise some funds for bail. We’ve also managed to legal practitioners who will be dealing with this case going forward,” said Joy.

-Daily Sun