VANDERBIJLPARK. – The plight of Bophelong community members to demand better service delivery in the form of electricity from Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) was short-lived when they were halted by SAPS and South Africa National Defence Force (SANDF) members yesterday.
This is after the two law enforcement agencies stopped the protesters and forced them to return back home even before crossing the Golden Highway.
About 120 protestors were aiming to go to the ELM offices to demand electricity as they said it’s now three weeks since they took ELM Mayor Gift Moerane on a tour to examine all areas that have since experienced electricity outages. However, their journey was not fruitful as they were instructed to turn back by the police.
Simon Nkosi, one of the Bophelong Service Delivery leaders said that they were embarrassed when police demanded an approval letter to take to the streets (protest).
“It’s true we did not apply to march , we wanted to arrive unnoticed at the municipal building. We are coming back in high numbers next week Thursday,” said Nkosi.
