OPINION: Lawless strikers threaten our lives and livelihoods

DEAR Editor; 

This is the second time in a week that Port Edward and the surrounding villages in Umtamvuna have been held hostage by a lawless group of ‘strikers‘.

Children battling to catch up time lost through Covid-19 have to stay away from school; businesses don’t open because of the threat of vandalism if they do; holiday resorts, hotels and other tourist accommodation have had their bookings grind to a halt and workers are too afraid to report to their place of work risking their own livelihoods.

The precious chance of getting vaccinated against a very frightening disease is also at risk because the vaccine will not be able to get through the blockade and neither will the recipients of the vaccine. Residents lives and livelihoods are being threatened and the only news we get is via social media. That is why rumours and fearmongering rule the day.

The rumour is that the mayor came to talk to the ‘strikers’ last week when they went on the rampage, and the reason they are allegedly striking this week, is because she did not keep her promises.

I say rumour and allegedly because nothing is confirmed in any statement or communication with residents, so they have to rely on gossip for their news.

To residents, it does seem that to persuade the mayor to come and discuss issues, it helps to have a burning tyre at your feet and a broken brick in your hand. I am sure that law abiding citizens would also appreciate the mayor coming to listen to them, perhaps sympathise with them and even attempt to explain why gross incompetence seems to be the order of the day.

Ordinary citizens don’t break laws to get their point across, they just beg and plead for water, for roads they can drive on without fear of wrecking their cars or being involved in an accident. They merely expect that by paying their rates, and water accounts timeously, they could reasonably expect a certain level of service delivery. When they see lawlessness ‘rewarded’ by a personal visit from the mayor, you can’t blame them for being confused.

When will the Saps be given the right resources and training to deal with these incidents, since they will obviously be happening a lot more frequently as water services and municipal service delivery continue to deteriorate?

There are a lot of questions that need to be answered and promises of service delivery that must be kept to keep our residents from rising up in rage.

STEPHANIE BREEDT
Democratic Alliance PR Councillor

Response from Ray Nkonyeni Municipality

The protest action was beyond Ray Nkonyeni Municipality’s control as it was about the road that belongs to the Department of Transport (D1097). The mayor did address the protesters during the first protest regarding the same, which was on June 3 and the action was suspended pending an intervention by the Department of Transport.

The report that we have is that the Department of Transport did try to address the issue through a follow up meeting on June 13 which unfortunately did not result in an amicable solution and resulted in the protest action resuming on June 14.

The leadership of the municipality led by the mayor, Cllr Nomusa Mqwebu communicated with the Department of Transport up to the level of the MEC for Transport, Peggy Nkonyeni who then on June 15 sent one of her senior staff to inform the protesters that the department had managed to secure funding to have the road upgraded to a surface road. After this message was delivered to the protesters they then dispersed.

The government as a whole wishes to apologise to all who have been inconvenienced by this protest action and unfortunately one is unable to comment on how law enforcement agencies are supposed to perform their duties.

SIMON APRIL
Ray Nkonyeni Municipality spokesperson

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