’Purple rain’ used on women protesters

The police in Adderley street, Cape Town used their new water cannons to suppress a Cape riot that had, for the third time, spread to White areas. The rioting spread from the Schotche Kloof Malay section of Cape Town. Rioting started when groups of women wearing T-shirts with the slogan "Troops Out" marched to the city centre to demand that troops, who were permanently stationed in townships because of the state of emergency, pull out of the townships. The police ordered the people to disperse, but the crowds refused. Finally, the police decided to use water canons with purpled dyed water to force the crowd to disperse. People dubbed this 'Purple rain' after the title of first album of songwriter Prince.