NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS IN JO'BURG QUIETER.

New Year celebrations in Johannesburg, and specifically Hillbrow, were a lot quieter and more restrained than in previous years, police said on Tuesday. Superintendent Chris Wilken said scores of policemen were deployed in Hillbrow overnight to curb the usual violence associated with New Years' celebrations. More than 250 policemen, soldiers and at least 30 armoured vehicles invaded the streets by late afternoon on Monday. Streets were closed off and no civilian vehicles allowed in for the duration of the night. Wilken said most of the people stayed inside hotels and apartment buildings and very few ventured out on the streets. "At midnight police were pelted with bottles and a couple of other household appliances, but it was not as bad as other years," Wilken said. "No stoves and fridges were thrown from windows, like in the past." He said ongoing operations in the Hillbrow, Berea and Joubert Park areas since early last year have paid off. Police intensified crime prevention operations in the area from December 1 and several clean-up operations were launched in the run-up to the festive period. "We had the normal incidents of bottles being thrown and people being stabbed, but it was much more under control than previous years," Pieke said He said two men, who fired shots at the police, were arrested and two unlicenced firearms confiscated. In central Johannesburg a 12-year old boy was shot dead while lighting fire crackers to celebrate the new year. Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said the boy was on the corner of De Villiers and King George ...