Peaceful protest might escalate to rates boycott if the city doesn’t up its game

Ward 88 is 'gatvol' of dismal service delivery from the city and is demanding those in local government improve paid-for services.

June 23, 2023

Emily Wellman Bain 2 minutes read

JMPD officers Retshepile Mashego and Janola de Villiers are on the scene at the peaceful demonstration in Roosevelt Park near Northcliff along Beyers Naudé Drive to protest poor service delivery. Photo: Emily Wellman Bain

Residents of Ward 88 who say they are ‘gatvol of poor service delivery’ took to the streets for their third protest action. While focused on this ward, they say their concerns are shared by all in the city.

Staged along Beyers Naudé Drive, demonstrators were armed with more signs, slogans to chant and more energy than in previous efforts.

Awande Mabaso, Hement and Ishaan Gopal. Photo: Emily Wellman Bain

Yusuf Dadabhay, an organiser said, “We are protesting a range of issues. Firstly, are the extended power outages that we experience when load-shedding ends. Sometimes it is 12, 24, or 36 hours. At one point we had an outage that lasted 41 hours.”

Protestors were keen to ensure their message was not one only of the hot-button issue of load-shedding.

The slogan for the informal group who are strategising on how to apply more pressure on the City of Johannesburg. Photo: Emily Wellman Bain

AK Amod said, “Our demands for service include regular water supply, looking after roads, especially when a surface is not returned to its original condition after below-ground pipes are fixed, and more.

“We, the people, have had enough. If we do not see a marked improvement in services across the board, we might have to move past this first phase of protest action.”

Leila Mathias and Nadia Da Costa who are here at their third protest in this movement and won't stop until their voices and demands are heard. Photo: Emily Wellman Bain — Leila Mathias and Nadia Da Costa who are here at their third protest in this movement and won’t stop until their voices and demands are heard. Photo: Emily Wellman Bain

Michael O’Donovan, also representing the group describes how he hopes peaceful protest can bring about change. “What we are doing is sending a message to local government to take us into consideration. This is an opportunity for them to address our very real concerns. If this does not work, we will escalate our actions until we achieve fair service delivery.”

He also states that Region B has got the lowest allocation of capital expenditure. “That allocation will decline to less than half the current amount in two years’ time. The city is not sustaining us, forcing us to take dramatic action.”

Lucy Dihangoane. Photo: Emily Wellman Bain

Plans are being considered, which include handing over memorandums of understanding to relevant city CEOs, and even rates payment boycotts. “Not paying for a month or two might strangle the city and get them to understand they need to service the city,” said Amod.

Protestor Neo Tsatsi said she attended because. “I pay my taxes, yet services are not rendered by the city. One example is a water pipe that was fixed in our street but the hole has not been filled or reinstated. It is so dangerous for motorists. We also recently had 72 hours without power which is completely unacceptable.”

The activation garnered massive support from the community who are frustrated with poor service delivery. Photo: Emily Wellman Bain

JMPD officers Retshepile Mashego and Janola de Villiers were on the scene at the demonstration but had no reason to engage the groups as they were peaceful and did not interfere with traffic or other road users.

Ward 88 councillor Nicolene Jonker said of the protest, “Residents in my ward and others are suffering terribly because of poor service delivery on many fronts. The right to protest peacefully is enshrined in our Constitution; seeing community action like this is part and parcel of our democratic state. I too hope service delivery will improve for all my residents, especially the vulnerable, and am doing all I can to play my part in holding local government accountable.”

Ward 88 councillor Nicolene Jonker holds a sign in council last week protesting service delivery failures for her ward.

At a council meeting last week, Jonker was seen holding a sign with #ForgottenResidents #Ward 88 written on it for a dignified and silent protest on behalf of her constituents.