KINROSS – Dark smoke filled the air on Friday, 11 May as angry residents of Marikana Section burned tyres, set alight the fields and blocked the R29 road because they wanted Ms Rose Nkabinde, ward councillor, removed.
Residents accused Ms Nkabinde of corruption and nepotism.
They said they have been telling Govan Mbeki Municipality about their dissatisfaction with Ms Nkabinde, but Mr Nhlakanipho Zuma, speaker, ignored them.
Locals are not happy with Ms Nkabinde and said she has not been their preferred candidate from the beginning and she was forced on them by the ANC region.
The disgruntled residents protested after a community meeting hosted by Ms Nkabinde.
They alleged she introduced them to an official who was there to be introduced to the community and the leader of the team who will assess Marikana Section to determine whether the place is suitable to be a residential area.
“We were shocked to learn that the area was going to be assessed, because according to our knowledge this place was approved to be a township.
“This proved that Ms Nkabinde is incompetent and that she is not aware of the status of her ward.
“We also want Council to conduct an investigation into money that was apparently allocated by the district to develop the area.
“We want to know what happened to that money.
“We also want Ms Nkabinde to drop the public violence charges against community members during our previous protest,” said a resident.
Mr Bheki Kubheka, municipal spokesman, could not comment on the allegations against Ms Nkabinde and said it is not part of his section of communication.
“The Department of Human Settlement has appointed a consultant to start a process to first establish a process of registering that area as a township.
“It will be registered as Extension 33 and as a formalised township.
“The process of public participation was started after the contractor was introduced to the municipality.
“We established two committees, namely a technical team and an administration team.
“We also have the steering community to ensure the involvement of the community and had a meeting with the community to update them about the process.
“The steering committee will be highly involved in this.
“We urge our people to be patient and to allow the process to go smoothly.”
Mr Nhlakanipho Zuma, speaker of the council, was not available for comment at time of going to the press.
Police said two suspects were arrested for looting foreign nationals’ shops.
