JOHANNESBURG— A police spokesman said one person has been killed in demonstrations that have turned violent with live fire exchanged between police and protesters.
Leonard Hlathi, a police spokesman in the eastern South African site of the protests, said Tuesday investigators were trying to determine who killed the civilian. He said police responded with rubber and live bullets when protesters fired on them in the eastern town of Ermelo.
Such protests over lack of roads, schools, running water and other basic services have become common in South Africa, where the gap between rich and poor is among the largest in the world. South Africa has an unemployment rate of almost 25 percent.