Community members going and coming from KwaGuqa and those going and coming to Pretoria had to stop because of demonstrations and protesting at Schoongezicht.
The protest was on Thursday, January 31. Traffic came to a standstill and burning tyres, stones, tree branches and other debris blocked the road.
The residents complained that their water and electricity supply has been cut.
They want to find out why their area was targeted every time there are cuts without even notices.
“We have poor service delivery in our area and there are no developments and projects in our area. We hardly have a clinic, a community hall or a high school, we need houses for our young people and other public facilities. Our children are chased away from schools in the city and people from Schoongezicht are not given employment opportunities like in the other areas. The municipality does not want to employ people from our area but are quick to cut our electricity and water,” they complained.
The residents said they want to meet with the executive mayor Cllr Linah Malatjie and the MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs Mr Speedy Mashilo and their ward councillor.
They vow that they are not going to vote during the coming national elections.
“We have had enough of poor services in our area and we feel that we are being targeted for poor services,” added the people.
One of the leaders said they met with the mayor and an agreement was reached to make arrangements for payments and they were encouraged to pay for services until Friday, February 8.
They also said the mayor had agreed to a follow up meeting to tackle the other issues and some of the affected people have already started to pay for services with the little that they can afford as encouraged by the mayor.
The residents were quick to say that they were not happy about the treatment they received from some of the officials at the municipality as some were turned away and told that their payment were too little.
Others alleged that young women were told that they need to find ways to make money and pay the municipality, they said the officials will only help elderly with payment arrangements.
The residents said they will raise their concerns with the mayor during the follow up meetings.
