Police disperse protesters
Four people have been arrested for public violence following the public service protest in Ext 17 this morning.
Tsakane- Residents of Tsakane took to the streets to express their unhappiness about service delivery.
“We were here by 3:30am this morning blocking the roads.
“We are tired of talking,” says Muntu Mahlungu (35), one of the residents.
The angry mob used rocks and burning tyres to block traffic on Xhosa Street.
Mahlangu alleges that the police fired stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
“They came in marked and unmarked cars, and immediately started clearing the road.
“That is when a small group was taken into a police van.”
Clifford Shongwe, spokesperson for the EMPD, says the four protesters who are still in police custody are between the ages of 32 and 44.
Ward councillor Bongi Sibanyoni said the protesters are on a mission to destroy her personally.
“I have been accused of misusing state funds so many times, without any evidence of such.”
Sibanyoni believes the angry residents are being influenced by former councillors who want to defame her.
“Most of the protesters were not from my ward, but from ward 86,” she says.
She says she does not understand why she is being blamed because she lives under the same conditions as the residents.
“I also live on a street that is not tarred. I walk in the same mud that they walk in because I don’t have a car.”
The police presence is still high in the area.
