A vehicle was turned over by angry protestors on the R55 as they barricaded the route on Tuesday afternoon.
Lt.Col Lungelo Dlamini said the road was closed and advised motorists to use alternative routes. “The situation is calm and under control even though a car has been turned over, protesters are now waiting to hand over a memorandum,” Dlamini said.
Dlamini said no injuries have been reported and no one has been arrested yet.
Residents are protesting about service delivery in the area. Police and metro police were deployed to the area to monitor the situation. Residents from Olievenhoutbosch first barricaded the R55 with tyres at around 04:00 on Tuesday morning.
Motorists were redirected to the N14 to avoid the road past Olievenhoutbosch. The road was reopened when the police felt that the situation in Olievenhoutbosch was under control.
As Olievenhoutbosch residents barricaded the R55 road to prevent the Mooiplaats relocation process into the area, many Mooiplaats residents were left confused as to whether or not they should start with the process of relocating.
According to the secretary of the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), Kleinboy Aphane, hundreds of community members had been gathering at the entrance of Olievenhoutbosch Extension 27 since the early hours of the morning to prevent Mooiplaats residents from entering.
Recently, the executive mayor, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, announced to the residents in Mooiplaats that they would be relocated to Olievenhoutbosch Extension 27 on 15 April. Many residents responded angrily, and previously threatened to wreak havoc if the Tshwane metro proceeded as planned.
“We have tried several times to raise the matter with the metro, telling them that this would not be possible, as many people in the area are still without proper houses and the council cannot just decide to relocate these people from Mooiplaats without addressing the lack of housing with residents who have been staying here for many years. What angered us as residents is that the council promised people that they would be relocated to Extension 27, which is a developing area that was promised to us a long time ago,” explained Aphane.
Previously, Ramokgopa said Mooiplaats residents had to be relocated because the area was not in a suitable state for service delivery to be rendered to the people. Community leader in Mooiplaats, Charles Malete, said he was not ready to move, since there was no guarantee that life would be better or safer in Olievenhoutbosch.
“The mayor told us that we would be moved today, but many of us did not even bother to start with the big move, as we heard that the chances of us being attacked were high. We are aware that people have barricaded the R55 to prevent us from entering the area, so we cannot risk our lives, as we do not know what might happen to us,” said Malete.
Pricilla Mamabolo, one of the residents supposed to be moved, told Rekord that she did not go to work, as she anticipated the mayor’s arrival to lead them to their new land. “I am surprised no one is here to address us on what is going on. I was ready to demolish my shack this morning, but I could not do so, because I might have no place to sleep later on. It is clear that the mayor lied to us, we don’t know who to trust anymore.”
Kenny Masha, the coordinator of the ward committee in Olievenhoutbosch, said there were two sections of land, extensions 42 and 27, that residents nearly invaded in 2012 after stating that they were tired of staying in the shacks and that those areas of land were meant for the Olievenhoutbosch community only.
“People were angered by the mayor’s move. The mayor lied to the people of Mooiplaats in 2012 in his State of the City address that the land of Mooiplaats was bought and that services would be delivered. The premier of Gauteng, Nomvula Mokonyama, announced during the opening of Orefile Primary School that Extension 27 would be developed by the province, so we were surprised when the mayor wanted to give our land to the Mooiplaats community. We warned the council about this day and we are not prepared to turn back,” explained Masha. At the time of going to press, the community was waiting to hand in a petition to the Gauteng province.
