eMBALENHLE – “The Govan Mbeki Municipality has failed us in so many ways and we cannot take it anymore,” were the sentiments shared by angry protesters at Extension 26 over power outages on Tuesday, 24 April.
The disgruntled residents took to the street to demonstrate their frustration with constant power outages in the area.
This was after they went to the councillor, mr. Themba Lukhele’s, house and burned tyres at the gate, demanding that he addressed them regarding the electricity crisis.
Mr Lukhele and other councillors explained to the community that the power outages were due to a cable that was damaged.
He said that the electricity would be back in no time. Electricity was restored in no time, however it went off again and that was when residents became violent.
Also read: Councillors fed up with poor service delivery from Govan Mbeki Municipality
They burned tyres and barricaded the roads in the area, including the four-way stop in Extension 12.
“We cannot take this nonsense anymore. We pay for our services but there is no service delivery in the area. The municipality only understands the language of violence. We are sick and tired,” said a protester.
A truck was damaged by protesters during a protest on the R546 Road (Evander/Standerton).
Police said the truck driver was trying to clear the road so that he could pass when the protesters saw him and began to stone the truck.
Const Busi Mthethwa said: “He managed to escape with the truck unharmed. We managed to disperse the group and clear the road. It was not such a big group and it was easy to disperse them.”
No one was arrested and the police are investigating.
