The N4 between eMalahleni and Pretoria remains closed due to a strike by KwaGuqa residents.

The protest comes after, according to residents, they made several attempts to communicate with the office of the mayor over service delivery issues they are faced with.

KwaGuqa residents claim they have not had electricity for three weeks and they wish the municipality could acknowledge the challenges they are facing.

“We have children who are in Gr 12 but are unable to study. We have pensioners who are suffering from chronic illnesses. Their medication should be stored in a fridge but they have no electricity. People are dying and no one is doing anything to help us,” said resident Sibongile Mahlanga.

Several gunshots were allegedly fired by the police earlier and that allegedly led to an elderly woman dying after she was believed to have been shot in her legs.

The residents are still waiting for the Mayor Conny Nkalitshana to arrive. Witbank News journalist Simangele Mkize is on the scene and said police had shot rubber bullets at the crowd.

Mduduzi kaMswati from the ANC has arrived to address the crowd. However, motorists are advised to stay away from the N4 and use alternative routes to get to their destinations.

Transformer repairs

On October 26 progress on work done on the damaged transformer painted a bleak picture.

According to the municipality, the damage sustained by the transformer was extensive and repair work had to be diligent.

“The progress to date is at 30%. The indicative period is at 16 weeks which they expect to reduce as they put additional resources,” municipal spokesperson Lebo Mofokeng said.

The water supply to Hlalanikahle extensions and KwaGuqa Ext 4 was affected due to the low level of the feeder reservoirs. A majority of the new KwaGuqa extensions experience low to no water supply at times – mainly due to the water deficit in the system and the ongoing power outages.

“We’re once more appealing to all community members to use water sparingly to allow the system to stabilise,” Mofokeng said.