MBOMBELA – On Friday the MEC for community safety, security and liaison, Mr Vusi Shongwe, was taken to task by organised protesters from KaNyamazane.
They gathered outside the provincial legislature singing struggle and vulgar songs. Among other things, the protesters were demanding placement in construction works taking place at the University of Mpumalanga. They allege that locals were often overlooked when it came to jobs that were meant to benefit them.
The masses refused Shongwe’s invitation to a closed-door meeting which would consist of a 10-member community committee and representatives from the government.
“We don’t do boardroom meetings. We know you will bribe our representatives with R100 000s. This is a community issue so we want you to meet all of us altogether,” said Mr Necto Bachroach, a community leader.
He hinted at the possibility of a violent protest, should the government fail to address their problems. “We don’t want to burn tyres, we want to talk to you peacefully and if we fail to solve the issues in a diplomatic way, we will then burn the tyres,” he said. They also want their local leaders to be offered an opportunity to represent them in government structures so that the leaders are able to see the protesters’ daily struggles.
On April 29 the residents from local settlements in the KaNyamazane area went on a rampage near the N4 and blockaded roads to demand electricity and other services from Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM).
They also barricaded the only road that enters the Matsulu, Emathuneni and Khutsong areas, burning tyres and expressing their dissatisfaction about alleged service-delivery failure by MLM. The violent strikers refused to be addressed by Mbombela mayor, Mr Sibusiso Mathonsi.
Shongwe has lashed out at them for their refusal to engage with Mbombela’s mayor, whom he said was one of the relevant officials to respond to the problems they raised.
“It is no use to insult me. You must raise the issues with the relevant people. My role would be to facilitate the talks,” he said.
The protesters said they have accepted government’s failure to create jobs, hence they expect it to fund their cooperatives which, they said, will prove to be a job-creation programme.
“There are lot of government tenders that are being given to business people who are not from our surroundings. We are saying we have capable contractors here who can do a good job, why are they not contracted by the government?”asked Bachroach.
Click on the links below to read about related strikes
Residents call on municipality to deliver
Chamber concerned about loss suffered
