Angry residents in ward 23, Mamelodi east emptied bins in Tsamaya Road and in front of councillor Jack Mukhari’s house on Tuesday morning in protest.
The residents were unhappy with the criteria the councillor used to hire people for the EPWP Gata Lenna programme, claiming he had hired friends, family and people from outside his ward.
The residents marched to his place to demand answers after he had failed to attend a meeting at the municipal offices in Mamelodi West on Monday.
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Local South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) secretary Millicent Mtshweni claimed community members siding with the councillor had assaulted her when she was investigating the project.
She said the Mukhari loyalists had accused her of instigating the protest against the councillor, an accusation she denied, saying she had not even been part of the protest.
A protester who wished not to be named said the councillor had refused to listen to the residents.
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He said Mukhari took them for granted and marching to his house was their only option.
Mukhari and some residents were later seen cleaning Tsamaya Road and Lihlampfyu Street near Mveledzo Primary School.
He denied the allegations against him, saying workers for the project were hired by the Tshwane lottery system.
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He said he saw the protest as a political agenda with the aim to sabotage him.
“The very same people who organised the protest claim to be the members of ANC in my ward.”
He advised them to take their complaint to the Tshwane metro.
He said the lottery was good because it protected councillors from accusations of bias in the hiring of people, but added that it was a pity that it was unable to complete a background check of the people looking for employment.
He said that he had invited the protesters to a meeting, but they refused to attend.
At the time of going to print, the national and metro police were monitoring the area.
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