Faceless protesters to hit Malibongwe belt; protest has started in Kya Sands
FARMALL - Residents of Kya Sands took to Witkoppen Road by Riverbend Road in Farmall to protest against poor service delivery on the morning of 12 October.
Part of the road is reportedly blocked off by the protesters, causing traffic to back up.
Motorists are urged to avoid the route between 9am and 1pm today.
PROTEST MARCH NOTICE : KYA SANDS INFORMAL SETTLEMENT RESIDENTS TO MARCH TO TO RIVERBEND RD. 09H00 TO 13H00 TODAY. FIND ALTERNATIVE ROUTES!!!
— REZA (@crimeairnetwork) October 12, 2015
The protest action comes after a faceless group in Ward 96 threatened a protest march on the morning of 12 October, starting from Msawawa Plot 15.
It was said that if the protest proceeded, areas to be affected are Msawawa, Inadahn, Bloubosrand, Kya Sands and parts of Northlands Park.
However, Ward 96 councillor Matome Mafokwane was not having any of that.
Mafokwane has already written a letter of objection, advising the Johannesburg municipal manager’s office not to sanction the march.
“There are no compelling grounds given by protest organisers to my office to justify the protest action,” he said.
Mafokwane told Fourways Review that protest action could only be sanctioned if proper documents were produced. The councillor said he needed to meet the protest organisers before he could support the march.
“We do not even know who is organising the march,” he said.
“At times they call themselves Action Group of Kya Sands or Brains of the Poor. I do not know these people. They are nowhere to be seen, but wherever they are, I urge them to come … and have a round table discussion with me.”
He added that organisers of the protest march had phoned him, apparently for his support. “Before I could make sense of what they were saying, the call got terminated. I am not sure if they ran out of airtime or dropped the call. When I called back they kept on passing the phone to each other and giving disjointed statements.”
Mafokwane said the issue was raised later during a feedback meeting he held in the area on 1 October where some residents complained about the ward delimitation process.
“A rumour doing the rounds, among other grievances, is the Municipal Delimitation Board’s (MDB) decision to realign ward boundaries, however, further engagement between my office and MDB can reveal that no formal submissions have been forwarded to the board in objecting to the delimitation process which closed in the middle of September,” said Mafokwane.
Meanwhile, residents have vowed to protect their properties if the protest goes ahead.
A property owner, Tony Smith said, “Why are the protesters not kept away from our property … Do we, as residents, have to mobilise, as a group, to protect ourselves?”
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