Three months into the hot seat his car and house get burned
While addressing them, he received a call informing him that the group was planning on burning his house down
It is approximately three months since Councillor David Makgetloa of Ward 29 was elected into the aforementioned position, and he’s already suffered the misfortune of having both his home and his car set alight.
Cllr Makgetloa believes that apart from what the community members had been complaining about, there might be other, more sinister reasons for his house and car to be torched.
According to Cllr Makgetloa some community members in the ward were complaining about the electricity which had been cut off due to non-payment, and they took to the streets to protest.
The community started with the protest on Monday, November 18, at about 11:00. Later that night, at about 20:00, the community turned up at his house.
They wanted to speak to him, however they were told that he could not address them as he was away on other commitments.
The crowd dispersed.
Law enforcement officials came to Cllr Makgetloa’s house to check on the situation and found that Cllr Makgetloa’s vehicles were stoned by some of the community members lurking near his house.
The following day, on Tuesday, Cllr Makgetloa went to the city council officers to negotiate on behalf of his community members about having their power cut.
He was told that about 98% of his community members were not paying for electricity and some had illegal connections.
Cllr Makgetloa wanted to negotiate on behalf of the 2%.
He was told that something will be done.
The same group had regrouped and were stoning cars on the N4 Highway, and had closed entrance and exit points to the area.
Cllr Makgetloa was called by law enforcement to address the group.
While addressing them, he received a call informing him that the group was planning on burning his house down.
He called his family and told them to move into a safe place.
“I was told that a group of about 200 people were already outside my house. I called the police to make them aware of the situation. When the police came, my car was already burning as well as part of my house. My concern is that the majority in the group were school-children. There might be personal reasons for the attack that have nothing to do with the electricity being cut off. The estimated damage to the home and car is R37 500.”
