VIOLENT PROTESTS OVER S.A. HOUSING!

Police in South Africa have used rubber bullets to disperse crowds of angry township-dwellers outside Soweto. The protesters have been demonstrating over what they see as the government's failure to improve living conditions. One community leader told the BBC residents still have no water, no electricity and no sewage provision. The BBC's Peter Greste in South Africa says these are the latest in a series of increasingly violent clashes over a lack of housing and other services.

In Protea South, a sprawling shanty town of tin shacks and lean-tos outside Johannesburg, scores of angry protesters have been confronting police. They complained that after years of promises from politicians and local councillors nothing has changed. The demonstrators said they gathered after local government officials refused to meet them to discuss their complaints.

Police confronted the crowd and after a stand-off that lasted several hours councillors came for talks. But as the discussion grew heated, protesters threw rocks at the armoured vehicle they were talking from. Police opened fire with rubber bullets, shooting low and flat as the crowd scattered into the township.

At least 11 people have been arrested and several people were injured. Our correspondent says the protest is the latest in a long series of angry demonstrations at the ANC government's failure to deal with the demands of the vast, black underclass that supported them through the years of apartheid.

Analysts warned that unless significant improvements are made to the impoverished townships soon, these protests will only become more angry and more frequent. South Africa has built at least 1.6m new houses and 9m people have gained access to water since the end of apartheid in 1994, but shortages remain severe. Our correspondent says it is not a political crisis yet but it is heading that way.

BBC NEWS REPORT.