A policewoman was injured when protesting residents attacked the Olievenhoutbosch police station, near Centurion in Gauteng, on Wednesday evening.

According to national police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo, residents protested outside the police station on Tuesday about high levels of crime in the area. 

“We addressed them and indicated to them that they should give us specific cases and complaints that they have because we cannot address their complaints based on generic information. Crime is never solely a policing problem – there are multiple underlying factors that contribute to crime and the police cannot be solely blamed for crime being committed in the area,” Naidoo told News24 on Thursday. 

“[On Wednesday] night at around 19:00, however, [community members] got aggressive and pelted the station with stones, damaging a windowpane and injuring a female police officer,” Naidoo said. A brick hit the police officer’s elbow.

“There were no other injuries or damages reported and the situation was calm on Wednesday night.”

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But residents returned to the police station on Thursday morning, where Tshwane district commissioner Major General Daniel Mthombeni addressed them, Naidoo said.

“We hope that we can resolve the situation amicably. We are calling on the community of Olievenhoutbosch to remain calm and to co-operate with the police and tell us exactly what their problems are so that we can address them,” Naidoo said. 

No one has been arrested.