Safety at EMM’s headquarters questioned

Ward 20 councillor, Clr Michele Clarke, said the safety of Ekurhuleni was exposed when ex-combatants stormed into council buildings at its headquarters in Germiston on Monday.

SAPS and Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) had to use rubber bullets as a group of disgruntled ex-combatants broke the doors to the council building and proceeded to break windows and other council property.

“The vulnerability of the building was in itself disgraceful, taking into account the R101-million spent by council on security services annually to secure the civic buildings within the metro. We are calling for an urgent investigation into why these security services were not fit for the purpose today, and also for immediate steps to be taken to ensure all staff is safe from now on,” she said.

The leader of the DA at Ekurhuleni council, Clr Shelley Loe, said that the incident could have been avoided.

She said the council’s refusal to deal with the unhappiness of the former members of armed wings of the political parties had left innocent staff members vulnerable.

“The DA has, for the past five years, been pressurising the council, in the community safety oversight committee, to deal with the demilitarisation programme via which the veterans are demanding pay-outs in recognition of the part they played in the struggle years,” she said.

She added that it was not the first time this group stormed into the civic centre.

Clr Loe said the latest incident should have served as a strong warning to the ruling party that trouble was brewing and swift action had to be taken to keep “a lid on the boiling pot”.

“Not only is the council guilty of leaving ex-combatants to simmer for too long, they left the building itself open to attack. Despite a long line of EMPD officers standing in front of the angry mob, many simply walked past and through the open basement parking lot doors and made their way up to the top offices,” she said.