At the crux of the community's protest is a demarcation issue.
A disgruntled community in the Eastern Cape is undeterred and has dug up four more trenches on the R394 in the region.
The community took their protest to the next level on Thursday, digging a trench across the R394 to prevent motorists from using the road.
Eastern Cape authorities put the soil back in the trench to restore the flow of traffic, but the protesting community of Gxwaleni Village is tenacious and has dug more trenches.
Road closed
Eastern Cape Transport department spokesperson Unathi Binqose said that the R394 road is temporarily closed to traffic.
“The road links the N2 road at Phakade and the R61 road at Magusheni. This has made the road barely accessible and unsafe. Motorists are advised to avoid that road as it is unsafe due to the state of the road and the volatile protest situation.
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“Eastern Cape department of Transport maintenance teams, accompanied by the police for their safety. Cautionary signs have been put up to redirect traffic,” Binqose said.
‘Sabotage’
According to Binqose, at the crux of the community’s protest is a demarcation issue, where residents are demanding to be moved from one local municipality to another.
“What this community has done is completely unacceptable. It is nothing short of sabotage, destroying the very infrastructure that is meant to serve them.
“The MEC for Transport in the Eastern Cape, Xolile Nqatha, has condemned this in the strongest possible terms, calling on communities to work closely with law enforcement officials to bring the perpetrators of this crime to book,” Binqose said.
Challenge
Binqose said Nqatha has also “challenged” the community to protect the “little that they have” in demanding more in service delivery.
The use of a trench moves away from the conventional protests of barricading roads with debris, rocks and burning tyres.
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