Actor Patrick Shai wounded during Dobsonville protests: 'I was shot 11 times with rubber bullets'

WARNING: This article contains graphic images

Johannesburg – Speaking to Channel24 from his hospital bed on Monday morning, actor Patrick Shai said that he had been wounded after being struck by 11 rubber bullets during a protest in Dobsonville.  

The community in the south of Johannesburg has been protesting due to electricity cuts. 

Patrick says he stood between disgruntled residents and police, trying to calm the situation when he was shot.

"I was trying to mediate between cops and residents."

About his injuries, he says: "I've got an open wound on my leg. They're putting in a drip now." He added that he was going to have x-rays done to determine if he had incurred any other structural damage to tissue or bone. 

The former Generations and Zone 14 actor said that while his thigh was left wounded, most of the rubber bullets hit him the back when he was trying to get away. 

"When we say that there is no need for violence, we are also saying that to police," Shai says, calling cops on the scene "trigger happy". 

The star who resides in Dobsonville says that his area had not been affected by power cuts, but he decided to join protests anyway as a means of keeping the peace among residence and police. 

UPDATE: A statement sent to Channel24 from South African Police Services' Brigadier Mathapelo Peters confirms that police had fired rubber bullets "to disperse a group of about 200 protesters", saying that protesters had allegedly "started pelting the police while the JMPD were clearing the debris on the barricaded Elias Motswaledi Road."

According to the statement, no arrests have been made. Police will remain in the area to "ensure no further violence erupts."

(Photos: Supplied by Patrick Shai)