PENGE – It seems like it is a trend for Tubatse people to vent their frustration by blockading roads nowadays. In recent issues the paper reported about several incidents where villagers barricaded roads in demand of better service delivery.
Protesting villagers from Mankele and Mamogolo villages were at it again as they blocked the road from Penge to Burgersfort with stones, rocks, refuse and branches on December 3. Pupils and workers were unable to attend school and work.
The protesters demanded that the Greater Tubatse Municipality (GTM) switch on the lights as they claimed the contractor had completed the installation of power in the area.
“We don’t know why we cannot utilise the electricity, everything has been installed but we are still in the dark. Our councillors are not even helping with anything as we continue to suffer while they live lavishly,” one protester said.
The protesters, who were mostly elderly people, complained they could not ferry wood daily to their homes for cooking.
“Am old and sick, I cannot climb mountains to search for wood anymore, our municipality must just come and switch on the power,” said gogo Martha Pilusa.
Another resident who did not want to be named asked, “Why did they wait for us to vote, if they are not switching the electricity on; some of us are pensioners and others are unemployed. It’s just difficult to survive without power.”
A resident who asked not to be named told this reporter that the drama started when someone summoned residents to the road by blowing a whistle. The crowd then started blocking the road with stones and a chainsaw was used to cut down trees.
Tubatse police used warning shots to disperse the crowd. Some protesters sought shelter, hiding in the nearby bush.
“Approximately 100 residents from the Mankele and Mamogolo blockaded the road. No arrests were made and no injuries were reported,” spokesman for the Tubatse police Sello Movundlela said.
GTM spokesman Mr Thabiso Mokoena confirmed to the paper that he knew of the protest. “The Mankele and Mamogolo areas have been electrified; we are only awaiting the handing over of certificate from the consultant who had installed the power. They will be switched on before the end of this year,” he promised.
Previously the Magakala and Moroke community members barricaded the R37 Road with stones demanding jobs at the Chromex chrome mine. Last month, Frans residents in Driekop also blocked the same road demanding the municipality electrify their houses. Bothashoek and Mashamothane residents were the latest to block roads to vent their frustration with GTM.
