So while most matriculants started their exams on a positive note with their first paper last Monday, others hardly slept, thinking about whether or not they’ll be able to write.

At 1:45am tens of local men had begun to assemble where they thought was a convenient spot to voice their grievances to the Imbabazane Municipality and councillors. Teachers, nurses and other local workers would not be able to move to and from town to get to their place of work on the other side of the Ncibidwane Bridge in Hlathikhulu.

The local people were fed up of waiting for 21 years for proper roads, electricity, water and houses from their municipality. They felt that they were not being listened to. While exercising their right to protest, they were met with hostility from the police. At 2am, gas was shot in the air to try and “contain” the situation.

These protesters carried no firearms, but were shot at with these gases for simply demanding attention from their leaders. I will be unbiased in this issue and say that the community violated many people’s rights while practicing their right to protest. They did not for once take into consideration the rights of their children in matric, whose finals were disrupted because of this protest.

Neither did they take into consideration those that are sick and in need of medical services but cannot be provided for because the nurses could not cross over to the clinic. So I guess, as a young Estcourt citizen my question is: what are you, as our parents, teaching us?

Is our future not important to you that you’d dig up the road, stopping us from going to school to write our finals? Why are we caught up in the middle of your arguments and disagreements? What is holding back our local municipalities from fulfilling their duties?

Concerned 18-year-old