Eight people who were arrested on charges of public disturbance in Protea Glen, Soweto, this weekend are expected to appear in the local magistrate’s court today.

This follows a protest by a group of disgruntled residents who are complaining about not being employed at the ongoing Lufhereng housing project.

The suspects (five woman and three men) were taken to Moroka Police Station where they were charged for public disturbance after closing the R559 road towards Randfontein.

They were later released on R500 bail each and are expected back in court today.

Protest action

The protest started on Friday afternoon where a group of residents, some in ANC and Sanco T-shirts, disrupted traffic on the intersection of Protea Boulevard and Tshipo Street.

They were chanting slogans denouncing the Ward 135 councillor, Phelelani Sindani, calling him a sell-out who has failed the people of his ward.

They accuse Sindani of allowing people from other areas to work on the Lufhereng housing project while the residents of Ward 135 remain unemployed.

On Friday, JMPD officers arrived on the scene and dispersed the crowd without arresting anyone. The group of residents took their protest action to the R559 road the next day, and the eight protesters were arrested.

“We have been engaging with Cllr Sindani about this matter but he is arrogant and doesn’t want to listen to us as the community. He has failed us and we want him out,” shouted one angry protester on Friday.

Councillor hits back

Responding to these allegations, Sindani rubbished claims that people who are employed at the Lufhereng housing project are from other areas and said they are from wards 53 and 135.

“The reality is that unemployment is a national crisis and we are no exception. What our people should know and understand is that, not all of them will work at the same time. They will work but through phases, as the work is coming in phases,” explained Sindani.

The councillor cited politics being involved in the orchestration of the protest. He pointed at the organiser of the protest as being a former independent candidate who lost in the 2021 Local Government Elections.

Sindani explained: “Upon him not being successful, receiving only two votes, his bitterness overwhelmed him. On the previous administration he used to collect money from the developers promising them protection When I came into office, I stopped that nonsense and that frustrated him and his friends from the previous administration.”

The councillor alleged the group of young people who participated in the protest are not even from the area but were ferried in by a truck driven by a Ward 53 resident.

“They tried to stop the Lufhereng housing project briefings but realising that they are no longer popular with the community, they then resorted to unsuccessful protests of about 20 people at most, majority of which are not even residents of Ward 135,” said Sindani and adding ‘the protest was just politics of the stomach by the organiser’.