EKURHULENI mayor, Mzwandile Masina, has strongly condemned the vandalising and burning of a customer care centre in Tembisa on Monday night.
According to reports, residents set fire to the new customer care centre in Winnie Mandela Park.
According to mayoral spokesperson Gugu Ndima, residents went on a rampage following electricity which has been switched off for two days.
“Whilst we note and respect the rights of communities to protest, this shouldn’t be used to opportunistically sabotage public goods. As the city we condemn this behavior in the strongest possible terms,” Masina said.
The incident sparked a discussion on social media, with one Twitter user saying the community lacks leadership and suggested the mayor open a public forum where people can voice their issues.
How r thy helping us yet we still stay in this horrible conditions in 2in1 stands whereas we pay ur expensive services?nxa!
— Thabiso 👑 (@ThabisoT_85) June 20, 2017
Talk with community leaders. We only see our leaders mostly during commemoration events and during elections.
— Nipho Mfeka (@mfeka91) June 20, 2017
The city through the Siyaqhuba service delivery response team, together with the office of the chief whip, Jongizizwe Dlabathi, visited the Winnie Mandela area this past week. The visit included a community imbizo for all community members to raise concerns.
“Such a platform could have been best to raise and address burning issues. It can’t be correct that a two-day power outage justifies the burning and vandalizing of a recently built customer care center,” Masina emphasized.
The EMPD is working tirelessly to investigate the criminal acts and restore order. More importantly the city will meet with community leaders to assess the situation and resolve genuine matters arising from the community.
Tembisa police spokesperson, Capt Manyadza Ralidzhivha, confirmed the police have opened a case of public violence.
He also said the centre was not completely burnt down, but the doors and windows had been damaged.
