Protesters removed from IDP meeting in Seshego
Sky-rocketing municipal bills, weeks without water and the municipality's silence on a request for flat municipal rates are just some of the demands the group has.
POLOKWANE – “Those who are disruptive must go. We are in charge here.”
These were the sentiments of member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for water in Polokwane, Alfred Moakamedi as the programme director of last Wednesday’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) public consultations in Seshego, after minutes into the three-hour session, a group of disgruntled residents started protesting over service delivery issues where the session was held at the Ngwako Ramahlodi Hall.
After numerous attempts in calling for calm, Moakamedi demanded that they be removed from the event by security staff.
“We are not here to play, those who are disruptive must be removed,” Moakemedi he shouted.
Earlier in the day, this group had already been guarded by a heavy police presence including four nyalas and several vans at the main traffic circle into the township, where they staged a planned shutdown.
#TotalShutdown – "We don't want answers from the mayor. We want service delivery." – Polokwane Observer journalist Koketso Sekhwela is live in Seshego where the community has blocked roads leading in and out of the area in protest. pic.twitter.com/MgCE31zyVA
— Polokwane Observer (@PolokwaneObserv) April 4, 2024
Doors of nearby shopping centres and schools were shut on the day upon prior instructions that circulated on social media. Movement was limited and public transport scarce. The intention, they told BONUS, was to boycott the IDP and keep Mayor John Mpe from entering the hall until their demands were met.
News for this action gained momentum weeks before the Easter weekend in Mankweng, and quickly spread into other municipal areas which subsequently also experienced protests.
Upon receiving information that Mpe was in a briefing at the nearby police station, the group moved to gather at the hall gates, where police dispersed them to make way for the session.
Sky-rocketing municipal bills, weeks without water and the municipality’s silence on a request for flat municipal rates are just some of the demands the group has.
“The mayor has made many promises in the last three IDP meetings about water projects but to date, water challenges have only become worse,” convener Chrishani Mafalo remarked.
The protestors were briefly allowed into the hall, until they became disorderly and were removed on Moakamedi’s instruction.
It appeared during the consultation that most ward representatives elected to cite challenges by their respective communities wore at least one ANC marked item of clothing, mostly T-shirts, which irked members of the opposition.
EFF ward councillor Matthews Ajao Leballo told BONUS that little effort was made to listen to the disgruntled residents.
“To simply kick them out quickly was a way to make sure that no one gets to really make the ANC-led municipality truly account for the problems here, as they themselves, rely on the mayor for political leadership. Myself and other ward councillors were not allowed to address the meeting,” he said.
Mpe, in response to the challenges, where municipal manager Thuso Nemugumoni was also in attendance, agreed that the demonstrations were disruptive.
He highlighted that his office viewed the protest as having been politically influenced, especially by opposition parties who were “merely campaigning” for the 2024 general election.
