Protesters threaten to bring road to standstill if demands not met

DISGRUNTLED residents of Mokoloboto village near Tzaneen recently staged a 13km march from their village to the offices of the Greater Tzaneen Municipality to hand over a memorandum of grievances in terms of the service delivery backlog in their village.

Residents said this was a follow-up protest of the one held in Tzaneen about three years ago.

Willy Malesa, a community leader from Mokgoloboto, said residents’ demands included water supplied to every household, the erection of an overhead bridge from the Dan Extension (RDP) housing area to Mokgoloboto village, the building of a new high school and a ward councillor who worked properly with the villagers.

Toilets, street lights, a community hall and a health centre were also on the list of demands.

Their memorandum was handed over to the mayor, Dikeledi Mmetle.

The memorandum stated that residents would give the municipality 14 working days (ending on October 24) to address the demands, failing which, residents would bring the Lydenburg road, which passes through the village, to a standstill.

When she addressed the protesters, Mmetle said three of their demands, which were the responsibility of the municipality, would be addressed as speedily as possible, but some would be directed to the relevant departments where they would be addressed.