SABIE – What looked like a peaceful little town from afar yesterday morning, was anything but when a seething mass of protesters marched through town and blocked all entrances due to their power being cut off.
Motorists were prevented from entering or exiting and there were reports of vehicles being stoned.
But traffic soon continued as usual when the SAPS and Phoenix Flying Squad intervened. Almost all businesses were closed. This was the second lockdown in less than six months, for the same unresolved reason as in September last year – Thaba Chweu Municipality’s (TCM) apparent lack of service delivery.
“We were forced to implement the electricity cut-off as many of the residents had not been paying. This was necessary in order to settle outstanding debt with Eskom and to force the community to pay their accounts,” said Mr Puleng Mapheto, spokesman for TCM.
Even though the roads were opened just after 08:00, the protest was far from over.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets. The road coming in from Graskop, the R532, was inaccessible due to the protesters blocking the road. The SAPS tried to reroute them to avoid any further congestions, when all of a sudden they decided to run through town. Phoenix Security members scrambled for cover. “You are not the police, you are security. Go and do your job,” the protesters shouted, threatening to get violent.
The police’s attempt to reroute them failed as the protesters made it clear that “the police will get hurt if they don’t let us use the main street to march”.
Armed with anything from hockey sticks to sjamboks and batons, they made their way to the town hall. Kneeling before the municipal buildings, they edged closer to a small group of police officers, who tried to prevent them from damaging the building.
They begged the municipality to hear their demands, but no one was there to address them. On numerous occasions, the police had to stand their ground as protesters wanted to enter the municipal offices.
When strike leader, Mr Paul Mokgotsonyane, addressed the crowd, calm descended.
He quoted Newton’s third law, referring to their previous strike action not receiving an equal reaction from the municipality.
The protest related to an unanswered memorandum that was handed over in September last year. The memorandum included, among others, the lack of water and electricity in Simile.
“We issued notices to those not paying their accounts, and it is within our right to cut the power. We apologise for those paying their accounts and still being without water and electricity. We are attending to the issue and it will be restored as soon as our electrical department had assessed the area,” Mapheto said. “As for those not paying and connecting illegally, you are shooting yourself in the foot,” he concluded.