Fury over new hostel plans
Oakmoor Railway Station was also blocked with burning tyres and rocks, preventing trains from Pretoria to Johannesburg from servicing commuters at Oakmoor.
Tembisa commuters at Oakmoor battled to board to taxis and trains on Tuesday morning as residents of Sethokga Hostel barricaded the roads with heavy rocks and burning tyres.
Nyari, Lobolo, Molaudzi, Andrew Mapheto and Brian Mazibuko streets were barricaded and some of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) buildings at Sethokga were set alight, including the ward councillor’s office.
Oakmoor Railway Station was also blocked with burning tyres and rocks, preventing trains from Pretoria to Johannesburg from servicing commuters at Oakmoor.
It is believed some residents were injured when Red Ants tried to disperse the irate protesters.
The disgruntled Sethokga Hostel residents were up in arms the whole of Monday night, protesting against the Ekurhuleni Department of Human Settlements for not providing them with the new family units and single units built nearby their residence.
In its March 11 edition, The Tembisan reported that Sethokga Hostel residents handed over a memorandum and accused Clr Lesetja Mohlpamaswe of misconduct. Residents demanded that he step down. They also objected to the “unexplained” demolition of the hostel. Residents then provided the Ekurhuleni Mayoral Executive’s office 14 days to respond.
Monday’s protest started at around 9:30pm, after the hostel dwellers had a meeting with the MMC for Housing.
They said they held several community meetings with the secretary to the mayor’s office, Mr Zinzile Nxcsi, who promised to take their grievances to the executive mayor, Clr Mondli Gungubele.
A resident said they had been promised family and single units.
“We were asked to share space in the hostel because they wanted to demolish other buildings to make space for the new family units. What angers us is that we were never told that the new buildings will be rental houses. We are not happy with how our municipality is handling the issue of allocation to the new buildings,” said a resident.
Residents asked the municipality to engage with them and to listen to their grievances.
“We were just told that people who will stay in the new family units will be paying R750, excluding electricity, parking and water. We are against the idea. We feel neglected,” said another resident.
The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) and the Tembisa SAPS Cluster and Provincial SAPS responded to the protest.
The Provincial SAPS spokesperson, Kay Makhubela said, “The protest was illegal but we managed to contain the situation. The SAPS is investigating a case of attempted murder, malicious damage to property and public violence. The situation is under control and police officers will be monitoring the area.”
When The Tembisan left the protest scene on Tuesday, Sethokga Hostel residents were still waiting for MMC Aubrey Nxumalo to address them.
“Ekurhuleni MMC for Housing Aubrey Nxumalo is dealing with the issue and has attended to the issues raised by the residents,” commented EMM’s spokesperson, Mr Themba Gadebe, late on Tuesday afternoon.
