Protests shut down voter registration locations

WHILE South Africans used the last opportunity to register to vote before the elections last weekend, young people in Siyandhani, Giyani, used the opportunity to voice their concerns over the lack of service delivery in their village.

The young people, who call themselves Siyandhani Youth in Action, disrupted the registration process by locking up several registration locations, blocking roads and threatening residents who tried to register.

The group accused the government of failing them for many years. “I am 28 and since my birth I have never seen a drop of running water in my home, despite the Mapuve pipeline that passes nearby to go to Giyani,” said Fumani wa Phiri Maringa, a youth leader. He said they did not even have a clinic in the village; not to mention job opportunities or anything to keep them off drugs.

He said the young people did not believe that the road from their village to Giyani would be tarred as government promised. He said they had heard these promises before and the road was still not tarred.

“We are only waiting for the deadline for the project to start. If that time comes and nothing happens, they will see real anger from Siyandhani’s young people,” he warned.

Greater Giyani mayor, Pat Hlungwani, addressed the young people to prevent what could have been a complete closure of voters’ registration stations.

The mayor said the road that they were complaining about was currently under consideration. “We agree that there were delays, but are now busy with it,” he said.

“We understand that the main concern is that the community wants to be part of the project. We therefore suggest that we meet on Monday so we can discuss how to involve the community in this project,” he said.

With regard to access to water, he said the municipality would send water-tankers to temporarily supply water in the village while they address the problem.