SCORES of residents of Birch Acres Extensions 23 to 44 gathered near Birch Acres Mall on Thursday morning, blocking routes at intersections to demand better service delivery from the metro.
“We were here since 2am and made fires on the side of the street while we blocked traffic until the police and traffic police arrived and used teargas and rubber bullets against us.
“We are tired of being taken for granted in this part of Birch Acres. We have no schools, no clinics, no public hall and we do not even know if we belong to Kempton Park or Norkem Park SAPS. When you go to one police station, you are told you belong to the other one” they said.
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“You go there, they say the same thing. Even the clinics treat us the same. You go to a clinic hoping you do not get sent away and told you must go to another one. Even now, if I was sick I would not know if I should go to Sangweni in Tembisa or to Norkem Park,” one protester said.
“We only have one park, which is a joke. That place is just dirt ground with fencing. We are not being taken seriously by council and the councillor is not working with us to get our plight heard,” said an angry member of the crowd.
Policing authorities parked their vehicles to monitor the crowd as protesters convened in small groups on different corners until buses were arranged to transport them to Germiston to deliver a memorandum to the mayor.
Community leader of the people of Birch Acres in ward 13 (extensions 23 to 44 and some parts of Phomolong), Mashao Rasebotsa, said, “People are tired and frustrated. We were promised that the construction of a school would take place in January but nothing has been built since.
“We were promised a clinic and a community hall but we are still waiting. We want the mayor, Clr Mzwandile Masina, who claims to have not received some documents about our plight from the previous mayor, Mondli Gungubele, to receive the documents from us in person and respond to us within 10 days. We are tired of sending complaints and getting only letters of acknowledgement but nothing being written or said to address our concerns.”
Members of the crowd said they would continue to make their demands heard and do not understand why the council does not want to engage with them and discuss promises that were made but not kept.
EXPRESS tried to contact both the ward councillor and the spokesperson of the mayor but was unsuccessful. Comment will be supplied when it becomes available.
