Ironically, part of the protest in the Driefontein area near Burford has boiled down to the “Have’s” and the “Have Not’s” and has moved on to a fight between two rural groupings – those with electricity and those without.

The clashes so far have been restricted to the destruction of municipal property and electricity infrastructure.

What makes matters worse is that the Eskom electrical substation that supplies the area with electricity is situated smack-bang in the middle of the area without electricity.

People living next to the substation have little or no resources, yet those living several kilometres away have electricity.

This dispute is not to be confused with the current all-encompassing service delivery protest that has Ladysmith town effectively surrounded on all sides.

The electricity outage throughout Ladysmith yesterday (Tuesday) may have occurred when the  protesters destroyed the Eskom substation.

Emnambithi/Ladysmith Municipality have delayed giving an official reason why the electricity in town was cut yesterday…

Since the attack on the mayor, the dynamics of the conflict seem to have changed.

But the simple truth is that the protests are reaching closer and closer to the town boundaries, with SAPS resources too small to combat it.

It is clear to even the most ignorant observer that the police have lost control on the ground. With “captains” now in control, it was once “colonel” controlled deployments. Police numbers have dwindled and police are sealing off areas rather than restoring law and order.

A municipal delegation that wanted to enter the Driefontein area yesterday was denied access, with police stressing that “they could not guarantee their safety.”