Westenburg protest given a human voice

Angela Salter’s outcry on behalf of her community could surely not be heard over the firing of rubber bullets, the swish of a petrol bomb or the mauling of a large crowd when Westenburg took to protest action last week. Having been arrested along with nine male suspects on counts of alleged arson, attack of a Police member and public violence last Tuesday, the 46-year-old mother of two in a way resembles the voice of the South African protester fed-up with apparent requests for service delivery seemingly falling on deaf ears.
Protest action has become a common sight across the country and in certain instances a side to the protest, the violence and the uproar remains untold. Salter, a social worker and nurse by profession, was unable to run off due to a medical condition when rubber bullets rained down on the group of protesters last Tuesday morning. She was eventually arrested on the sidelines of the protest after trapped under a man who was shot three times, she recalls during an interview. She is being charged for suspected arson and for the alleged attack of a Police member after she had already been arrested, she points out. Being locked up at Polokwane Police station instead of Westenburg Police station already gave rise to more questions, she remarks. She also denies knowledge of both her alleged involvement in assembling petrol bombs used to torch Police vehicles and actually being equipped with the knowledge of how to assemble a petrol bomb.
Still, her reason for being there on Tuesday morning didn’t relate to a hidden or personal agenda, but more of an impassioned plea on behalf of her community, she emphasises.
Even though Salter’s demands – which were in the main directed towards the needs of the elderly and the kids of the Westenburg she grew up in – had been included in the memorandum handed to authorities, she is adamant to embark on a paper trail to secure matters are given the necessary attention as opposed to the lack of communication and lies she says she has observed thus far. It was learnt that the main aim of her perceived participation in the protest was to direct the attention of Polokwane Executive Mayor Thembi Nkadimeng, whom they were told was not available at the time to meet the community, to the issues at hand.
A week later the sidewalks en route to her home are still littered with burnt debris, the remnants of last week’s three-day protest that erupted on Monday. In the living room of the house that doubles as Adonai Crisis Centre for women and children as well as drop-in centre for kids who make a turn after school, on weekends and during holidays, Salter speaks from the heart. She doesn’t beat about the bush about the need for infrastructure in the neighbourhood.
Salter speaks of a lack of infrastructure and services as well as the need for the refurbishment of existing but dilapidated infrastructure dating back to apartheid days. The shopping list can leave anyone despondent when considering the fact that the community has been sidestepped for that long, she concedes. “Everybody is suffering here.” Her remark summarises a situation underpinned in previous stories published by Polokwane Observer in the past.
She emphasises that the people of Westenburg are in dire need of a clinic, a shelter or drop-in centre, a skills lab with computer facilities, proper sports grounds with spectator facilities, road upgrades in the RDP section where emergency measures like fire hydrants are also lacking, speed humps in busy sections, assistance with rehabilitation for drug users, counselling services for rape and sodomy victims and home-based care support for the elderly and infirm. She was vocal on the settlement being a forgotten entity as it is seemingly being cut off from the rest of its immediate surrounds.
She places emphasis on the need for the youth of Westenburg having to be constructively engaged instead of committing theft – because of existing poverty – and rape or taking drugs.
According to Salter she is in dire need of donations towards the running costs of the facility she attempts to operate from home without any outside financial assistance. She has converted her garage into a space for homework and a makeshift library for the use of the approximately 60 children she caters for. Salter claims that no girl child was raped or molested in Westenburg during the recent school holidays as they were taken care of at her place. “I’m a one-man show. I’m on zero standstill. But God still gives these kids food every day,” she notes.
She laments not being able to get treatment specifically for children with a worm condition from the mobile clinic stationed at the community hall due to their apparent continuous lack of stock. Neither had the social workers attached to the local Police station ever paid a visit to her house to assess the needs, she says.
She shares a text received from the local ward councillor on 25 May this year, in reply to one of numerous verbal requests for him to visit the centre. According to the details contained in the message that day he apologised for being in a meeting and gave the undertaking to return the call. To date he has never phoned back or visited to see where help was required, Salter mentions. She concludes by stressing the point that it is necessary for the councillor to be made aware of the plight of the people.
At the time of going to press ANC Councillor Hafiz Shaikh commented saying he had the intention to go visit Salter’s place and planned to do so yesterday (Wednesday).

Story & photos: YOLANDE NEL
>>observer.yolande@gmail.com