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South African police fire teargas at World Cup workers
South African police fired teargas and rubber bullets late on Sunday to disperse hundreds of stadium workers protesting over wages in the coastal city of Durban, witnesses said.
Riot police armed with shotguns and riot shields chased the workers, who were deployed as stewards in the ground, out of the stadium where Germany had earlier beaten Australia 4-0 in their opening World Cup game.
At least one woman was injured when she was hit by a rubber bullet, a Reuters witness said.
"We were mounting a peaceful protest because they were not paying us what we expected and we were surprised that the police started charging at us. They fired teargas at us," said one of the workers, Sydney Nzoli.
By early on Monday, there was a standoff as workers' supervisors tried to negotiate with them while heavily-armed police watched.
About 500 workers were contained by police outside the stadium after being chased out of the venue.
A police spokesman said the disturbance started after workers were paid less than they expected for their work during the match.