Protests flare in restive South African township

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South African police fired rubber bullets on Tuesday to disperse rioters who torched a library in a restive township, a reminder of the social problems that persist 20 years after the release of Nelson Mandela.

In a second day of unrest in Balfour, a township 80 km southeast of Johannesburg, a crowd of up to 1000 people protesting against squalid living conditions burnt tyres and barricaded roads before attacking municipal buildings.

"When it was necessary, the police used rubber bullets to disperse the crowd," Sergeant Sam Tshabalala of Balfour police said.

On Monday, police arrested 22 people after rioting in the township that included the looting of shops owned by foreigners - an ominous reminder of the wave of anti-immigrant violence that swept the country in 2008, claiming more than 60 lives.

Local media said the Ethiopian, Pakistani and Indian shopkeepers whose premises were attacked had taken refuge in apartments near Balfour's police station.

Balfour became a flashpoint last year during widespread demonstrations against the dire public services and grim living conditions that remain common in Africa's biggest economy.

Many poor black South Africans complain that their lives have not improved since Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) swept to power in 1994, promising to provide jobs, housing and medical care for all.

Despite a decade of strong economic growth up to 2009, official unemployment has remained above 20 percent and millions of blacks still live in tin-shack shanty towns with little access to running water, sanitation or electricity.

The ANC says 2.7 million new homes have been built since it came to power, but acknowledges it faces a backlog of 1.1 million units.

With the economy only just emerging from its first recession in 17 years, the government is not flush with cash, and is also worried about discouraging local and foreign investment with policies overly slanted towards the poor.

President Jacob Zuma is expected to dwell on the fight against unemployment and poverty in a state of the nation speech on February 11 that marks 20 years since anti-apartheid icon Mandela was released from prison.

- Reuters